Sand Kissing a Moonlit Sky
by Bethie82
Summary: Tsukio was born into a civilian family and she has only one goal to make her family proud. When her family is told she will be a shinobi, she is given the tools to make that happen. However life as a shinobi isn't what she thought it would be, especially when you are a Shinobi of the Sand. Follow the life of this young girl as she learns what being a shinobi really means.
1. Introductions

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places in the Narutoverse, just the OC's I create.**

My first memory was of walking. I wasn't the one walking, I was being carried by my mother, on her back. We were walking next to my father's wagon in the caravan he owned. Not that I knew that much. I just knew that Father had a wagon and sometimes I would get to ride in it when it was too hot to walk any more, or when Mother was tired. My father was a merchant and we would travel between the coast of the Land of Wind to our home in Sunagakure. We would go to different ports, different cities, and once we event went to a different country. That was a long trip. As far back as I could remember, we would be surrounded by sand and always walking.

For small amounts of time, between the trips, we would be in a city, in a house with permanent walls. We would sleep in beds that had soft sheets, I would take a bath, which I never liked, and wash all the sand off me. When we would be in these different cities, I would have to wear different clothes. When I was very little, I could just wear my walking clothes, but as I got older, I needed to wear a robe, because that is what girls do. At least that is what my mother always told me. Not that I would complain to her, because I didn't complain, that is not what we did in the Land of Wind.

When I was about two and a half, we entered a city that was surrounded by huge rock walls. There was a small path, wide enough for all the wagons to fit through, but not wide enough for two wagons to pass each other, through the rock walls. Along the walls were people, like the people Father would hire to guard our caravan sometimes. They stopped us before we got to the rock wall, Mother made me sit in the wagon on her lap while Father spoke to the people. Mother called them shinobi and said that they are trained in weapons and jutsu to be able to protect the people of Sunagakure and anyone else who pays for the privilege. At the end of the wall, I saw lots of buildings. Most were short, no more than three stories high. They were all the color of sand. At the end of the road we were on, was a very tall building, it stood much higher than anything around it. One the side was the word "Kage" in red.

"Mother? What is that big building?" I asked, pointing to the tall building at the end of the road.

"That is where the Kazekage works. It is called the kage building," she answered.

"Who is the Kazekage?" I asked.

"The kazekage is the protector of Sunagakure. The kazekage is the leader of the shinobi in the Land of Wind. He rules over all of Suna like the daimyō rules over us," Father answered.

I nodded, Father talked a lot about the different rulers of the world. I remember him saying that he moved to Suna to be protected by the kazekage. At the time I never realized just what the protection of the kazekage meant, sadly I now know.

"Mother, what are we going to buy here?" I asked, because why else would we be in a city?

Father and Mother both laughed, "Tsukio," Father smiled at me, "This is Suna, this is home. We are home to sell what we have bought in other places."

I felt the warmth of happiness flow through my veins. Father smiled at me! Then his words registered, "Home? Not the caravan?"

Mother shook her head, "Home, it is like the hotels we have stayed at, but permanent. We will be here for a while, until we need to go and get more wares."

I looked closely at Mother, her voice sounded funny. Like it did when she found me after she said I was lost, but I wasn't lost because I knew exactly where I was, Mother was the one who moved, not me! Mother was smiling so big I could see her teeth, so I smiled too. When Mother was happy, everyone was happy.

The wagons continued moving down the road, past the Kage tower, into a very busy part of the city. Father stopped the wagons in front of a store, I could see someone who looked like Father inside.

"Hello!" the man that looked like Father cried out when he saw Father at the door. "You are back Masahi! Just in time, we were running low on some things."

Father gave the man a hug, "Isamu, it is good to see you. I trust everything was just fine here?  
"Of course nii-san, although it will be good to have you back."

Mother got down from the wagon and held her hands up, "Come Tsukio, it is time to meet Isamu-oji."

I grin, I know that name! He is Father's little brother and Father talks about him a lot. Father told me a story about when uncle got his hand stuck in one of grandmother's favorite vases and they almost had to break the vase to get his hand out. Father said that Grandmother was very unhappy about it, but Father and Mother laughed at the story, so it must have been a good ending.

Mother and I go stand next to Father, I hide behind Mother and bury my head in her robe. I am not normally shy, but this is a person that Father and Mother talk about often and I want him to like me.

"Tsukio, you remember me talking about my little brother, Isamu, right?" Father asked.

I nod my head, peeking out from behind Mother.

Isamu smiles and kneels down in front of me, "This can't be little Tsukio! When you left she was this big," he held his hand out about two feet apart, "Did you get a different child to pretend to be little Tsukio?"

I lift my chin and stare at my uncle. "I am not little! I am this big!" I hold my hand out at my head height as I correct Uncle Isamu.

Isamu laughs, "I can see that you are a big girl now, Tsukio. Did you want some water or tea before you head home?"

I look up at Mother, wide eyed. I know the rule, no taking food or drink from anyone unless Mother or Father says it is okay. I smile when Mother nods, "Water pease." I say, frowning I think about what I just said before trying again, "May I 'ave some water, pease?" I grin and look up to see Father and Mother grinning back at me.

Uncle stood up and we followed him as he walked into the store. Some men came from the back of the store and started to help unload the wagons. Mother took me to a table and we sat down while Uncle got some glasses of water for Mother and me. Then I watched as Uncle and Father supervised the unloading and storing of the wares from the wagon.

I watched as crates and barrels were unloaded and brought into the back and I drank my water. This water was different from the water I was used to, for one thing, this water was cold. Like the water we would get from the oasis at night. I played with the small beads of water that formed on the side of my cup. It took forever, or at least long enough for me to finish my water and the water on the sides of my cup to not be there, before Father and Uncle were finished. Mother gave me a couple crackers from her pocket and I happily ate them. Then Mother put me on her lap and let me rest my head against her shoulder. I knew what this meant, Mother was trying to put me to sleep! I didn't want to go to sleep, I would miss something if I did. So, I kept my eyes very wide, so they couldn't close.

Blink

Father and Uncle were drinking some water inside the store.

Blink

Father and Uncle were gone, but Mother was rocking back and forth and humming something.

Blink

Father and Uncle were back! They were talking about something and pointing to something on the table between them. I tried to turn my head to see what they were pointing at, but my head was so heavy.

Blink

Mother was moving, I struggled to open my eyes, when that didn't work I made a noise.

"Sshh, Tsukio, just rest. We are home now," Mother told me. I nod and sink into the soft pillow under my head.

I wake up to the sound of people talking. I recognize Mother, Father and I think that last voice is Uncle Isamu. I looked around the room, it had a single small window, the bed I was laying on and a dresser in the middle of the wall on the other side of the room. It was smaller than some of the hotel rooms Mother and I shared, but it was not huge. Just right for me. The curtain covering the window was moving slightly in the breeze. Sitting up I feel a weight fall off my chest and I look, it is my stuffed bunny, I always sleep with her.

I stand up, the floor is cold on my feet. I look for my shawl to keep the sun and sand off my face, it is sitting at the end of the bed. I slip it on, Mother always tells me to keep my shawl on.

"The Kazekage has made new taxes concerning the selling of our wares. Things that are listed under luxury items will have a higher tax than goods listed as necessities. I have the lists, you should familiarize yourself with these goods. My wife has been creating a color coded labeling system to help us and our customers to recognize what goods fall into which categories."

"Why the change?" Father asks.

"We think it has something to do with a famine, or at least a smaller than average crop. Some of the food vendors have been complaining about the lack of farmers selling their crop. This way food will stay reasonably priced, while other luxury items will be able to make up the cost difference." Uncle replied.

"That is good planning then. People will not starve, but also merchants will not complain too much about the loss of revenue if we have to import more food at higher costs," Father said thoughtfully.

I walk down the stairs to the room where my parents are. With my bunny in one hand and rubbing my eyes with the other, I am sure I made a cute picture. Mother stood up and brought me to the table and gave me a plate of food. The adults continued to talk about the changes that have happened since we left. After I was done, Mother had me wash my hands and face and sent me to my room to unpack my clothes.

That was the first day of what I like to think of as my home time.

My life was divided into home time and sand time. My Uncle Isamu and Father would trade off who would lead the caravan and who would watch the store. I can't say which I loved more.

When we were at home, I would help Mother and Father in the store. I helped to fold cloth that was cut, help to find matching buttons and thread. It was all a big game for me. At home I took water baths at least once every three days. I wouldn't have to wear my shawl all the time, but I would have to wear a robe while I was in the store. At home I could play with other children in the village. As I got older at home I would continually practice my numbers and letters, moving into reading and mathematics. Mother told me I was a very smart with numbers and letters.

During my sand time I could just wear my pants, shirt and shawl. I had Mother and Father to myself, for the most part. I could run and play along the length of the caravan. Father would play counting games with me while Mother would play word games with me. When we would stop for the night I was able to listen to the other people driving the wagons tell stories about different caravan trips. My favorite stories were the ones told by the shinobi that Father would hire. The older ones would tell funny stories of missions gone wrong, the younger ones would tell about stories at the Academy. After I went to bed, the older ones would tell stories about a war, the stories would be about bravery and living to see another fight.

Sometimes the shinobi would teach me things, the most fun was learning how to run on the sand. I couldn't run up the sand dunes like they could, but one shinobi said it was because my legs were too short. I continued to practice every chance I got, I was going to run up the sand dunes like the shinobi. One shinobi taught me how to balance stuff on my fingers. It was very difficult and very tiring. It took the whole trip before I could balance a piece of scrap wood on my finger to the count of one hundred. After that, I had to learn how to balance the same piece of wood on my finger while I was walking. One of the younger shinobi showed me her shuriken and told me when I was older she would teach me how to throw it, but for now, I had to practice hitting a target with a rock. Hitting a target was more difficult than I thought it would be. Then I got to practice throwing rocks and sticks between the wagon wheel spokes while we were walking. One shinobi had me hold a piece of scrap paper on my forehead while I helped Mother prepare dinner.

At first all of this was very hard, but as I practiced, I was able to get better and better. I would practice some of these skills while I was at home. The sand running was difficult, but at least at home I had an abundance of small papers, rocks and other things that allowed me to practice throwing, catching, and balancing.

Time continued to march forward. The constant motion between home and sand.

A very sad day happened when I was at home. Mother was at home making dinner while Father was closing the store. I was outside with some of the neighbor kids, we were playing a game of tag. A man wearing a shinobi outfit walked up to my house and knocked on the door. His head scarf was very white, that was strange because most head scarves are tan or off white. The man handed Mother a scroll and turned around and walked away.

"Tsukio, run and go get your father," she called out.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, Mother had her 'a sand storm is approaching, and we need to move fast' voice. It seemed to take forever but I finally burst through the front door of our store.

Father looked up from his books, "Tsukio? What are you doing here?" He sounded worried.

"Mother," I took a few breaths, trying to catch my breath from my sprint, "Mother said to get you."

Father looked confused, "Did she say why?"

I shook my head, still breathing heavily, "A shinobi came, and Mother said to come an' get you." I repeated.

Father nodded, he tucked the books into their proper places and together we walked out of the store. Father stopped to lock the front the door before walking down the road in huge steps. I ran to keep up with him. I stumbled on a rock and Father reached down and picked me up and put me on his back. I laid my head down on his strong back, everything was going to be just fine, Father would take care of it.

Father put me down outside the house and told me to go and play with my friends some more. I was happy, with Father home, dinner would be soon, and I could play with my friends until it was time to eat. My happiness was cut short by the wail that came from my house. Running to the house, I open the door, to see my father kneeling on the ground holding onto Mother's robe, his shoulders shook as he sobbed into her robes. I rushed over to hug Father. I look up and see Mother has tears on her face, so I try to put my arms around both. After a while, Father's sobs slow and his arms come up to hug me back.

"Mother? Father? Wha' wong?" I ask.

Father took a shaky breath, "Uncle Isamu..." He broke off.

"Uncle Isamu is buying and selling ou' wares outside Suna, to brin' more wares to sell in Suna." I reply helpfully. I knew about Uncle, when he was home, we were in the sand, since we were home, he was in the sand.

Father shook his head, his eyes filling with water once again, my eyebrows come together in a frown as I start to bite my lower lip. "Tsukio, Uncle was killed," Father's voice was flat, like when he was reading a long list of numbers.

I tilt my head to the side to look at Father better, I knew what killed was, the shinobi that guard our caravan talk about friends that were killed. One of the younger shinobi told me that killed meant that you died, and you were never coming back, but that was okay because you died in service of Suna. The shinobi always looked hopeful when they talked about their friends, Father didn't look hopeful, he looked, broken.

"Killed means not coming back?" I asked looking up at Mother

Mother nodded, "Yes, Tsukio, Uncle Isamu is not coming back."

I give Father another hug. Mother finally gets Father to get up from the floor and she takes him to their room. "Stay here, Tsukio-chan, I will be right back."

I nod and go to the corner where I have a set of wooden blocks and play quietly. I hear Father crying some more and Mother's soothing voice. After a while, I didn't hear anything coming from their room. Then I heard the soft rustle of Mother's robe as she walked back into the room.

"Are you hungry?" Mother asks softly.

I nod, my tummy making a loud noise.

Mother smiles and holds her hand out, "Well let's feed the wolf in your belly then."

Time took on a different meaning then. Instead of home and sand, it became with Father and without Father. Mother and I stayed at home to take care of the store while Father went out to buy and sell outside the Village. We wore black robes, I kept tripping on mine, even when Mother shortened the robe. I wasn't allowed to play with the neighbors anymore when Father was home. When Father was home, we would go to the cemetery, Mother explained that was where people who died were laid to rest. Laid to rest is like a long sleep. Before we would go to the cemetery, we would go to one of the flower shops and get some white flowers to put into the little cup on Uncles grave.

One day when Father was home, Mother and Father sat me down after dinner.

"Tsukio, would you like a little brother or sister?" Mother asked.

I think about it, I could have someone to play with while Mother was at the store and I nod, "Can I choose a brother?" I decided a brother would be more fun, my friends have sisters and brothers and the ones with sisters complain the most.

Mother laughed, "I don't think you get to choose, you see the baby is in Mother's stomach and in a few months will arrive."

"Why so long?"

"It takes a long time to make a baby," Father explains.

I nod, because if it takes days to make Father a new robe, then it must take longer to make a baby. Although why Mother would want to make a baby when there are plenty of babies around I don't understand. You only had to walk around the neighborhood to hear them screaming and crying.

Father was gone more after Mother made her announcement. Mother said it was so that he could be home when the new baby arrived. Mother taught me more and more about how to do the books at the store, how to make meals and how to clean up the house and the store.

Then one day we were celebrating my fourth birthday. I got a new book of stories from Grandmother, a new ball from one of the neighbors, lots of blank parchment, scrolls, brushes, ink, pencils and pens from other people. Mother gave me a new robe, this one was brown, along with a new set of clothes, this one was a pair of wide legged pants, in a light brown, tan color, the top was sleeveless in a darker brown with a pink belt around the waist. A light enough outfit to wear under my robe without being too hot but also covering enough that I could take off my robe without upsetting people by the skin showing. I was excited about the pants because when I wore them, it looked like I was wearing a skirt. I must be old enough to wear skirts and dresses like Mother does all the time.

Mother was always talking about modesty or how to keep yourself clothed. Which is why I had so many shawls of different lengths and so many different robes. Although everyone in Suna wore robes, mostly in browns and blacks, so maybe that was just a Suna thing. When we used to travel, I wore my hood up to keep the sun from burning my skin, and to keep the sand out of my mouth. Later I would learn that light skin was prized among the Land of Wind, and to ensure I would be able to get a wealthy husband, Mother kept my skin as light as possible.

After my birthday, Father left again and didn't come back until we celebrated the New Year. The New Year festival was fun and bright. Father and Mother took me out to try the foods, play the games and to watch the people in their best clothes walk around. I got to stay up late that night to watch the fireworks bursting over the sand. The colors were so bright and wonderful. I loved watching the bright reds and blues light up the sky from the safety of our roof. I must have fallen asleep at some point because the next morning I woke up to Mother shaking my shoulder.

"Tsukio, get up, your Father is leaving this morning and you need to say good bye."

I slowly sit up and get out of bed. The room is dark, which means Father will not be staying for breakfast before he leaves. I pull on one of my older robes before I walk out of my room, Mother helped me put my arms in and together we walked down the stairs to greet Father. Father was standing there with a small frown on his face that changed to a bright smile when he saw me.

"Tsukio, I know you will be a good girl while I am gone. I want you to help your mother as much as you can."

I nod, Father tells me this every time he leaves, "Yes, Father."

"I should be back before the baby is born, however if I am not, I need you to go to the grocery store and tell the owner that the baby is born. I have left instructions with him."

I nod, the grocery store owner is our neighbor and sometimes I get to play with his youngest son, who is my age. "Yes Father."

"You are four, which means you are old enough to remember my instructions."

"Yes Father, I will not forget."

Father bent down, and I gave him a big hug, he gave me a kiss on the top of my head and I smiled. Taking a deep breath through my nose, making sure to remember the comforting smells that make up the scent known as Father, I let go and take a step back. I slowly walk backwards out of the living room to give Mother and Father a moment to say their good byes, this usually involves kissing and hugs, and Mother doesn't like to do that stuff in front of me, so I walk away, and everyone is happy. I am very happy because it means that I don't have to see Father walk out of the door.

Time marched forward, Father came home before the end of the month. Father brought me a new book from someplace called Konoha, I had to look it up on a map in the store, it is in the Land of Fire. I hadn't been there before, at least not that I remember. Father brought the new baby a stuffed teddy bear, like my bunny. Together Mother and I had gotten the new baby's room set up. The new baby had a special bed called a crib on one wall. I picked out the yellow bears that decorated the curtains and pillows on the rocking chair. Father set the new teddy bear in the crib and he smiled.

Shortly after Father came home, Mother had to go to the hospital. I was told that the baby was coming soon, and I had to stay with Grandmother. Grandmother's house was boring, but she did let me play with my friends for as long as I wanted to. We were talking about the new baby and since most of us were four, we would be starting school soon. When one of my friends started to tell us what his older brother said school was about, I decided that I didn't want to go to school. It sounded too much like what I was doing already, reading, math, and history.

Mother came home today with the new baby!

"I have a little brother!" I tell everyone who comes into the store. "His name is Takashi."

Father smiles at me as people congratulate us.

The baby is loud, he likes to cry all the time. Mother is too tired to play with me and I am having to help more at home. I have gotten good at making rice and stirring soups I have also gotten good at putting food in the oven. At the store I help Father with the bookkeeping, and to keep the store clean.

My favorite part of the day was after Takashi had been feed and before he went back to sleep. It was at this point that I was able to hold my brother. Mother would make dinner or take a quick shower or get some food chopped and ready for me or Father to combine to make another meal. I would talk to my little brother, I would tell him about all the travels in the sand, tell him stories that were shared around the fires, tell him stories about the people who visited the store. I would just talk to my little brother. His large brown eyes would stare at me and sometimes he would smile.

As he got older, we would continue this little ritual of ours, where I would tell him stories while Mother would be busy.

A few weeks after Takashi was born, Father had to go out again. Mother watched over the store, while I stayed at home to watch Takashi, with the help of Grandmother. Mother would come home a couple times during the day to feed Takashi, but if he was very hungry and Mother wasn't there, I was able to give him a bottle.

While Father was gone, Mother sat me down to tell me that I was going to start school in a couple weeks. She wanted me to come with her to pick out my school supplies. I got to pick out some new parchment and new ink. The brushes I received for my birthday were still brand new, so I passed on new brushes. Mother found a dark pink ribbon and made a pretty hair bow to wear with my braids.

Too quickly I started my first day of school. I knew most of the people in my class, I had grown up with most of them, and their parents ran the stores around my father's store. I later learned that the civilians were all housed in the same area to make protection easier, or to maintain control. The teacher was funny, but she was nice. We sang a counting song and a song to help with our letters. I got to play on the swings during recess. Mother packed me a yummy lunch and I was able to eat with my friends. After lunch we listened to a story about a woman in the moon who came to Earth. After the story, we painted a picture of our family. I made sure to have Takashi in Mother's arms.

After school let out, I walked home, just like Mother told me too, with my friends. One by one, they would go to their houses and the rest of us would wave and call to them we would see them tomorrow. At home I put my school stuff away and changed into my older clothes. I then started to make rice and lit the fire under the stew, so it would be ready when Mother came home.

Days continued, the same thing happening, making the days blur together. Then one day shinobi showed up at our school. The teacher told us that the shinobi were here to observe, and we would be given some tests.

"Don't worry about it if you can't perform the tasks required. These tests are not for a grade, they are just to see if you can do some things," the teacher reassured us.

I was still worried though. "I hope I pass these tests, Father will be very upset if I fail any test," I whisper to Kimiko.

"Me too," she whispered back.

"Okay class, line up and head to the playground," the teacher called out. We all stood in line and followed the teacher to the playground.

"Wow," I gasp, the playground had become a huge sand field. There were even little sand dunes. A light touch with my hand showed the sand was not the packed sand of Suna, but the loose kind like in the desert.

"Now class, try to walk across the sand," Teacher said.

I looked around, most of my classmates were frowning and very confused. I watched as the bravest of us took a small step onto the sand, I watched as he took three steps before his foot sunk in up to his knee. Having seen nothing bad happen the rest of the class moved up to the sand and tried to walk on it.

I held my hand out to my friend, "Let's go together," I whisper. Holding her hand, we slowly took a single step towards the sand field. My friend was able to take two steps before she sunk down. I tried to hold onto her hand, but I was midway into my third step and I felt the sand move beneath my feet, remembering what the caravan shinobi said to me, I focused on my feet and took another step in the opposite direction of the moving sand. When my foot contacted the sand, that sand started to move too. I bit my lower lip as I studied the sand in front of me, the sand was shifting for about two more steps. I focus on my feet and take a leap over the shifting sand, once I my feet hit the sand I run up to the closest sand dune.

"Very good," the teacher calls out when half the class was on a sand dune and the other half was knee deep in the sand. "Now back to the classroom."

We all lined up and trekked back to the classroom, where as we walked into the classroom we are given pieces of parchment, we are told to put the parchment on our forehead and hold it there without using our hands. This test goes by quickly, as we don't have to keep the parchment on our heads for long.

The next tests were more balancing things on different body parts. The final test was a race around the school's perimeter.

"Mother!" I call as soon as I walk into the store. "I'm back."

Mother walked out with Takashi in her arms and a smile on her face, "Tsukio, how was your day?"

"Today we had some shinobi watching us take some tests. They were weird test, Mother, but I did my best just like you and Father always tell me too."

Mother's face grew pale and her smile faded, she looked upset.

"I'm sorry Mother, I will try harder next time," I rush my words through my cold lips, I disappointed Mother, I could feel the disappointment rush through my body, as I hung my head.

"No, Tsukio, I am not upset at you, not at all. I am just a little worried that the test was too hard for you," Mother's face was all pinched tight, but some color was back in her face.

Takashi started to fuss, and I held out my arms, "I'll take him, Mother."

Mother nodded, "That will be good, take your brother home and I will be home in a couple hours."

I smile brightly, "Yes, Mother." I walk out into the hot air, the hot season is coming fast this year, Grandmother said so. As I walk home, I start to tell Takashi all about the shinobi and the tests that my class had to do. Most were hard, and I was tired, but I know I didn't disappoint Mother, so it was a good thing.

Our house was cool when I walked in, the darkness keeping the insides nice and cold, which was great when the hot season started. Only the living room and the upstairs had windows, this was to keep the sand outside and it was easier to protect the house from sand storms if there were not a lot of windows. I set Takashi on the floor of the living room on a blanket and set my school backpack next to the door with my sandals. I then take the broom and sweep the first floor to remove any sand that may have come in.

Mother came home, and we had dinner, I took a bath that night and fell asleep very quickly.

The next morning before we had even finished breakfast, a shinobi came to the door. Mother gasped as he handed her a scroll. I remember what happened the last time a shinobi brought a scroll to the door and I walk over to Mother and wrap my arms around her.

She pats my arm and opens the scroll, "It's okay Tsukio, it isn't about Father."

"It isn't? Then what did the shinobi have to give you?"

Mother smiles at me, but it isn't a happy smile, "You remember the tests you took yesterday at school?"

I nod, the tests were yesterday, not last year.

"They were tests to see if the children of Suna could become shinobi."

I gasp, feeling excitement lick my insides. "Did I pass?" I ask, unconsciously holding Mother tighter.

Mother smiled at me, but there were tears in her eyes, "You did, sweetheart."

I could feel the grin that was so wide it hurt my cheeks, I jumped up and down, "I passed! I can become a shinobi! YES!" I ran back to Mother and gave her a big hug.

Mother leaned down and gave me a hug, I felt wetness on my check from where her face pressed mine. "Mother?"

Mother smiled, "I'm proud of you Tsukio. Grandmother will watch Takashi while we go shopping for supplies for your new school. You won't go to school today. You will start at the Academy after the weekend."

This was officially the best day ever! I get to spend time with Mother, all by myself! We walked to the other side of the village, this was where the shinobi lived, where the shops that catered to the needs of shinobis were located. We got some kunai, shuriken, the oils, stones and everything I would need to take care of them. We walked into a clothing store, Mother knew the person in charge. They talked for a little bit, talking about fabrics and styles, and I wondered around. There were lots of clothes that looked like it was made of netting, but when I touched it, it was stiff.

"It is called mesh armor," a voice said next to me.

I jump a little, I was too engrossed in my own head to notice them walk up to me. I turn to see a girl with chin length brown hair, she was wearing a blue shirt that hung off one shoulder and had a white sleeveless shirt showing, she had a black short skirt on and long black stockings and sandals. She was smiling, so I smiled back.

"Are you a shinobi?" I ask quietly, so Mother doesn't scold me for asking personal questions.

"I am training to be one," the girl replied.

I straightened my spine and smiled, "I start training on Monday!" I glance to see if Mother heard me, "Mother is helping me get what I need."

The girl nodded, "You will need different clothes for sure. Robes will just get in the way. You should also get some mesh armor, to get used to the feel of it on your skin. A shirt and shorts if you will be wearing a skirt," she took a hold of the edge of her skirt and lifted it slightly, revealing the black mesh shorts underneath.

I nod enthusiastically.

"Tsukio, come here," Mother called.

I waved to the girl shinobi before rushing over to Mother and the shop keeper.

"Go behind the curtain and take your robes off, child," the shop keeper instructed. I look at Mother who nods her permission.

Going behind the curtain, I find a medium sized room, smaller than the front room, but large enough for a bench, a stool and a small raised area in the center of the room. I took my robe off and hung it up on the small hook near the bench. After a minute of standing there, I peek out from behind the curtain.

The shop keeper spotted me and waved her hand, "Come here child, let's see what you are wearing and what we can do to modify it to be clothing fit for a shinobi."

The shop keeper was very happy, and her happiness infected the whole shop.

"Hmm," the shop keeper said as she looked me up and down. I was wearing a sleeveless tunic in tan and dark brown wide legged pants. I had a dark pink sash around my waist that I previously had around the waist of my robe. "The top is fine, you will need to add some deeper side seams for better movement. The pants will need to tighten and possibly shorten. The belt can stay, it will be useful for storage, you will need to get a set of shinobi sandals though, brown or black I think," the shop keeper was talking to Mother as she walked around me. "Does she always keep her hair in braids?"

"Yes," Mother replied.

"That's good, it is much easier to wrap around your head to keep out of the way." The shop keeper walked over to the section of mesh armor and pulled out a sleeveless shirt and then she walked over to another section and pulled out a pair of shorts, a pair of long pants and a pair of short pants gathered at the bottom. "Go back and try these pants on. Put the mesh under your current shirt," the shop keeper handed me the pants and the shirt.

A quick glance around the shop showed the shinobi girl standing near Mother, she caught me looking at her and smiled. I smiled back and walked back behind the curtain to the other room. The mesh shirt was stiffer than I was used too, but it wasn't scratchy, and I could still move in it. I put the shorts on and frowned, I hadn't worn shorts often, only on the hottest days, and only when I was inside. Mother walked in and frowned with me.

"The cloth used is a special cloth, designed to help deflect slow projectiles and to help deflect slashes. If you want to make her clothes for her I can get you a good deal on the cloth, however I will happily continue to make her clothes if you want," the shop keeper said from behind Mother. "Not shorts then," the shop keeper said noting the frown on both mine and Mother's faces. She followed Mother into the room. "Try on the next pair of pants."

I nod and turn my back to the two women and step out of the shorts and hold up the long pants. I step into them and pull them on. They are much tighter than I was used to, more like the leggings I had to wear on the rare occasions it was cold. The pants were very tight, almost like a second skin which I didn't like and when I moved I found that they were stiff, much stiffer than the mesh armor. I turn around and shifted from leg to leg, uncomfortable with them. Mother tugged on the bottom of my shirt as if to magically make it longer.

"Not those either then," the shop keeper didn't seem upset at all. "Try on the last pair."

I look over at Mother who nods again. As quickly as I could I removed the pants and took a deep breath. I picked up the last set of pants, gave them a little shake and found that they moved more like my regular pants. I slipped them on, they were looser than the pants, but much tighter than my wide legged pants. They stopped just under my knees, although with the elastic hemming the bottom of the legs, I could easily pull them up above my knees. I was able to move around in them like my normal pants.

The shop keeper smiled, "I think those are the pants."

Mother nodded as she ran her hand over the cloth along my legs. "Do you think you could make it slightly fuller around the hip and thigh area?"

"Of course," the shop keeper said pulling out a measuring tape, "Jump on the platform and let me get your measurements."

I stand on the platform and hold still as she takes all my measurements, then she quickly wrote down the measurements.

"I can make three full sets of clothes by next week, if you take these pants and the mesh shirt, your total is," she paused for a moment, "forty thousand ryō."

Mother nodded, "I can pay half now and half when I collect the clothes."

The shop keeper nodded, "Very good, very good."

"Tsukio, go take off those pants and the mesh shirt and put on your clothes."

"Yes Mother," I reply. I quickly follow Mother's instructions.

We take our packages home and I take my new supplies to my room.

"Make sure you put all of those weapons away, so your brother can't reach them," Mother calls out from the foot of the stairs.

 **AN: It occured to me that there isn't much written about Suna. So I decided to give it a shot for NaNoWriMo in 2018. Here is the fruit of that month. For those who have read my other work, you know this is a Gaara/OC fic. Well this is going to be a very long and very slow burn. As you can see, Tsukio has some growing up to do before she can be a fitting match for our favorite Kazekage.**


	2. Life at the Academy

My first day at the Academy was only slightly scary, but luckily, I was in class with one of my friends from her old school, Kōji. We all sat at the tables waiting for our teacher to arrive. I sat next to Kōji and listened to him talk to some of the other boys. I tried to find another person that I could talk to, but no one else looked familiar.

A man with squinty eyes, wearing a white turban with a tan colored robe walked in the door. He stood at the front of the room, put his hands behind his back and spoke. "Alright class, my name is Sajō and I am your new teacher and you only have a couple months to catch up to the other students in your class. Most of the students here are from shinobi families so they have a basic understanding of what being a shinobi means. You are all from civilian families, which means you must work even harder to bring honor to Suna. I have four months to teach you all the basics that your future classmates will have learned from their first steps. So, do not waste my time."

The classes were very different, the focused on the history of Suna, the shinobi rules and chakra theory and manipulation. After lunch, we all went outside, and we had to run, stretch and do something called a kata, which were exercises to help us learn to fight. Sajō-sensei called them conditioning drills. We would also learn how to properly hold kunai and shuriken, then later we learned how to throw them.

I would practice every night at home to get better, so that I would not be wasting Sajo-sensei's time. My time spent with Takashi was shortening, because I was spending so much time trying to learn and catch up to the other students. Father came home after I had been in the Academy for two weeks.

Mother was very upset at him, it was the first time I could remember her yelling at Father. "You left and never told me what the Kazekage was testing civilians for chakra control! It is because of you that our daughter will be in danger and could die!"

I buried my head under my pillow that night, I also made a promise to myself that I would not die, not if Mother was so upset, but I still wanted to be a shinobi, so I worked even harder.

The hottest part of the year came, and the Academy was out for a month, we would be joining our other classmates when school resumed. I promised that I would continue to work on my shinobi skills.

It was during this time, Mother told me she was going to have another baby.

When classes resumed, I met Saya, she was from a prominent shinobi family that specialized in puppetry.

"Look what the cat dragged in?" she sneered, "The civilians are here."

I glared at her, but an adult walked in and yelled at us to sit down. We all quickly sat down and looked to the front of the classroom.

The teacher started the day with a lecture on more history, but this time it was history of the Five Great Villages. Lunch came, and we were all able to eat on the Academy grounds. I sat with the other civilian children and we talked about the differences we learned at the Academy and at the civilian school. Mostly it was where the emphasis in history was, in the civilian school it was the history of the Elemental Nations instead of the Great Shinobi Villages.

I was finishing up my lunch, when Saya walked up to us. Her blue hair bouncing as she walked up to us, her yellow eyes gleaming, "I don't understand why they let you civilians come, I mean all you are is cannon fodder."

"You have a lot to say for someone who is in the Academy too," I glare at Saya.

"You," she pointed to Koji, "tell your sister to keep her mouth shut, unless she wants me to shut it for her."

Koji frowns at Saya, "My sister isn't even here; besides the only way you could shut someone's mouth is if you used your hair."

Saya's face turned red, as her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

I look over at Koji, "I think she means me," I grin, "and I guess she could try to shut my mouth, but like you said, I doubt she could."

Saya glared at both Koji and myself, "You little bitch!" she cried as she stalked over to where I was sitting.

Thankfully the bell rang just before she could reach us and we all rushed in to our classroom. That afternoon, we did more conditioning exercises before a new instructor came out and paired us off and told us to do our katas with our partner.

After the Academy was finished for the day Saya followed us to the civilian side of Suna, all the while calling out insults. Too bad for her, we had heard worse from younger siblings. There were benefits to being around traveling merchants, the children always gotten made fun of by foreign children.

The next day we were answering questions about the different Nations, focusing on the countries that border Suna.

"What is the leader of the Hidden Villages called?"

Saya raised her hand and said, "Kazeakage."

I spoke up, "The leader of the Hidden Villages are called Kage, the name given by each of the villages changes, because of the village, for example the Kazekage is the leader of the Hidden Sand Village." I smirk at Saya when the teacher informed me I was right. Saya's face turned red again.

As we walked out to lunch, Koji whispered to Saya, "Red is not your color, neither is green. You should work on that."

"Stupid civilian! You don't know anything!" Saya yelled.

"Well we know the difference between a Hokage and a Kazekage," Koji sneered.

"Enough Koji," I admonish, "We are all going to be shinobi and will have to eventually work with each other. It is best not to make enemies so soon."

"Like I would ever work with idiots like you," Saya cried and stomped away to her group of friends.

I sigh, "I guess she is going to continue to hate us."

Koji smirked, "We don't need her to like us, because we will be better than her anyway. Coming from a shinobi family does not make her better than us, it just means we have to work harder."

I nod as we sit with our friends. I was able to eat my lunch much faster than the others, so I went on a little bit of a walk to clear my head and to just get rid of this nervous energy. Today we were going to start sparing with each other. I turned the corner and saw a large group of students, they must have been older than me because I don't remember seeing them before. They were crowded around two people in the middle. It looked like they were fighting or sparing I guess. I try to move through the crowd, so I can see better.

"Excuse me," I say to the person in front of me.

A girl turned around and I was faced with the familiar face of the shinobi girl from the clothing store. She had a yellow scarf around her neck, but she was the same.

"Oh hello," I said, getting over my shock.

"Hello again," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw the spar and wanted to see. We start sparing today and I have never really seen one," I tell her.

She nodded, "You can watch, but stay behind me, these two can get out of hand when they forget that it is a spar and not a real fight."

I nod and turn back to the spar. It was amazing watching the fists and feet fly through the different motions. I was able to catch a movement that was like a kata I learned. The ducks, flips and blocks were all done very fast and the people around the circle seemed excited at how this was going.

"Okay, that's enough you two!" Called out a voice, the two in the center of the circle immediately stopped and the two bowed to each other. "Back to class all of you," the voice continued.

The shinobi girl turned to me and smiled, "I hope that you learned something from watching."

I nod, "I hope so, blocking and ducking seems to be how to not get hurt."

The girl nodded, "You also have to learn work through the pain, but that will happen just through practice."

"Thank you for letting me watch," I bow my head, "My name is Tsukio and I'm the cloth merchant's daughter."

"Nice to meet you, Tsukio. My name is Matsuri." Matsuri turned and walked with the rest of her classmates, with a small wave she disappeared into the darker interior of the building.

I rush back around the corner to where my class is, and I slide to a stop in front of my friends, "I just saw some of the bigger kids spar. It was fast and there was lots of ducking and kicking. I can't wait to see what sensei teaches us first!"

The bell rang and we all picked up our bento boxes and walked slowly into the classroom. After a small lecture on proper fighting techniques, the teacher took us out to the sparing area. It was an area that had small sand circles that were used to help define sparring areas for a class spar. The teacher introduced us to our sparing instructor.

"I'm going to put all of you into pairs and then each of you will spar when I say go. This is to be a taijutsu spar, so no ninjutsu or genjutsu. You also will not cause permanent damage to your partner. Since this is your first spar as a class, we will only go for five minutes each round, know your limits, if you are done, stay down. Once your partner has stayed down for the count of three, the spar is over. Any questions?"

We all shook our heads and replied, "No sensei."

"Good." Without saying anything else, the teacher partnered us up according to something only he could see. He would pick one person and then walk down the row and pick the next person. That was how I ended up paired with Saya. I bit back a groan, this was not going to be a fair spar at all. I know that Saya has spared before, because I have seen her and her two friends spar when the teacher is not looking. I take a deep breath and steel myself with the knowledge that I am going to be pounded into the ground. The gleam in Saya's eye is just confirmation that she wants to hurt me.

I will say that it was a good thing I watched the older students spar, because unlike the other students, I focused on using the blocks I learned during the katas we had to practice every day. I will not say that I was able to last the whole five minutes, in fact I am sure I lasted less than half of that time, but I did learn that blocking meant I could have a second to think about my next blow. I also learned that being punched really, really hurt. The final lesson I learned was that Saya would not rest until she continually pounded me into the ground. She could read me very well, she knew when I was about to go down to the ground and she would back off, drawing out the spar, giving me hope that I could win.

Later I would say that Saya was practicing her special brand of cruelty on me, but in the moment, all I could think about was it wasn't fair that someone the same size as me, could hit twice as hard as I could.

After the Academy was finished, I walked over to the fighting instructor, "Excuse me, sensei?"

He turned to look at me, only the right side of his face visible, "Yes?"

"I was wondering, is there something I can do to improve my sparing? Something I can practice or learn after the Academy or over the weekends?"

"I will teach you everything you need to learn, and if I don't then your other teachers will," he told me.

"Yes, but just like with our chakra control exercises, we need to practice them outside of school so that we can continue making progress. Is there something I can do to continue making progress and to not waste anyone's time?" I ask, slightly desperate to learn something that would keep Saya from beating me into the ground.

The man was quiet for a few moments, his eye staring hard at my face, looking for something. Finally, he nodded, "You should work on your conditioning drills, alternating between increasing the number of reps you do and the number of times you do the whole set of exercises. Continue this until you can do one thousand of each exercise and you can run around the village twelve times in under an hour."

I nod my head, and respond, "Thank you, sensei," and turn around and walk away, however inside I am very unhappy with his advice. What good is pushups, crunches, jumping jacks, burpees and planks going to do me, especially when I can barely get through the two sets of ten we have to do at school. And running around the village twelve times in under an hour? That was just crazy, I can't even run around it once, much less twelve times!

"What is wrong, Tsukio?" Grandmother asked as she handed me a small bag of frozen rice.

"I asked sensei what can I do to be a better fighter and he told me to do the conditioning drills and to run," I put the rice on my face to lessen the swelling, the medical shinobi stopped the bleeding and lessened the bruising, but she did tell us all to put something on our faces for the swelling. "How is drills and running going to help me beat Saya in a spar?" I knew I was whining, but I couldn't help myself.

"Do you remember the first time you had to do your conditioning drills? Back when you were first at the Academy?" Grandmother asked.

"Yes," I mumble.

"Do you remember saying that you couldn't even get through the five pushups?"

I nod my head.

"How many can you do now?"

"About fifteen."

"So, you were able to improve, yes?"

"Yes Grandma."

"What do you use to spar?"

I take the frozen rice off my face and stared at her, "My hands, arms and legs."

"What muscles do you use to control your hands, arms and legs?" Grandmother asked slowly.

I stare at my Grandmother as I started to see what she was really asking, "So you really think that I can become a better fighter if I work my muscles?"

"I think that you will become a better fighter if you practice, but all of the practice will not do you any good if you can't put any power behind your blows. Your sensei is a very smart person to have you work on gaining muscle since that is where your power will come from." After delivering her statement, Grandmother stood up and walked to the living room to pick up Takashi, who was fussing.

I sat there, thinking about what Grandmother told me. Knowing how to fight is useless if I have no power behind my blows. Even as young as I was I could understand that all it takes is one good hit and you can end the fight. It was with my grandmother's advice, that I began my new training. I still worked on my chakra control at night before bed, but now I woke up early and began my conditioning drills and right after school I would run around the village.

At first, I could only make it halfway around the village before I had to stop and start walking, once I caught my breath I would slowly jog the rest of the way. I could only do the ten reps of each exercise twice, but slowly I would increase my number of reps or the number of sets I would do. Slowly I found that I could last longer in a spar against Saya. Slowly I found that my body could withstand a more blows.

As promised the taijutsu teachers would instruct us on our fighting, we were soon able to last more than ten minutes with our spars. Our katas became more and more complex. Our teachers showed us how we could use katas to build our fighting style, how we could build our own katas to suit our fighting styles.

The years continued to move forward. I grew stronger and taller. I was able to run around the village six times before I needed to slow to a shuffle. Having longer legs helped, Grandmother said one time when I came in. Different teachers came in, most were experts in a field and we would learn from them for a week or two, then it would be back to our normal schedules.

I turned five, it was a small birthday party. Father brought me a very finely crafted weapons pouch and Mother gave me a special scarf to wear around my neck, and it was long enough that I can put it over my head if needed. Takashi's birthday was a huge gathering, the first birthday of the first son. I was so happy to be with my brother on his birthday. He got many gifts that were silly for a baby, but they would be helpful when he got older. Shortly after Takashi's birthday, my youngest brother was born. Father named him Isamu after Uncle.

Soon the time just flowed together, the days became the same. My days were broken into Academy and sand days. When the Academy was on break, sometimes I would accompany Father on his trips, mostly I would travel to the different ports while Mother and Grandmother would take care of the store and the boys. It was during this time that Father started talking about hiring someone to go out with the caravans.

One my tenth birthday, Father was home and we had a huge birthday party. Mother said that this would be my last birthday as a child, my next birthday I would be getting ready for when I was married. Once I was eleven, I would start to meet matchmakers, parents would come to look at me, to see if I would be a suitable match for their son. Mother said I was a very valuable match because I was their oldest and right now I would inherit the family business.

"But what about me being a shinobi, Mother?"

"Always have a backup plan my sweet. Your father and I are not going to promise anyone anything, but it is good to know that you have options. Besides, no one would expect you to be married now, it would wait until you were in your twenties."

It was also during this year at the Academy that the classes were divided, where the girls had to learn about "woman's studies" or things like flower arrangement, how to style hair, how to put on makeup to look like different classes of people and to change how our faces looked. We also learned specific information about seduction and how to prevent unwanted pregnancy. We learned about sex the previous year and that would have been embarrassing, but the teachers were very matter of fact and the medical shinobis showed diagrams and answered everyone's questions.

This was also the year the whole village hung black cloth from every roof top, we all wore black for a whole week. It was the year our Kazekage died. His three children stood in front of the entire village and placed flowers on his grave. His children had just gotten back from the chuunin exams in Konoha. Something else happened, the shinobi of Suna had cleared out, leaving only a handful of people left, including our teacher who was "too old to be of any use." We buried a lot of people after that.

Life continued, we mourned the loss of our Kazekage. His children came to the Academy one day. They just came to observe our class before moving to the older students to work with them. Everyone was a little nervous dealing with the infamous Sand Siblings. I was concerned, but not overly so, my grandmother made sure I knew that Shukaku, while real, was not going to hurt me if I was strong enough.

A lie, I learned, but a lie that helps children sleep at night and overcome their fear of monsters. It also gave me a reason to train more.

I excelled in the girl classes or women's studies, much to the other girl's dismay. As a civilian, I have been learning about flowers and their meaning since before I could walk, or that is what Mother tells me. I have been watching Mother put makeup on for years, Father is an important man and therefore Mother has had to attend different events in different areas of the village. In more recent years, Mother and Father have been attending parties in other cities, especially in the capital. Father explained that he had contacts with a couple special families that created cloth and people request this fabric from all around the Land of Wind. People wanted to be on Father's good side to be able to get a good deal on this fabric.

On my eleventh birthday I got a present from the daimyo, which Father had me write a thank you letter and then he took the gift away.

"Mother, why did Father take the gift from the daimyo away?" I asked when Father was away again.

"The daimyo wants to lure you and your Father by extension to the capital with empty promises, because he is very unhappy that we moved here. He wants the taxes from our store to go to him and not to Suna."

"Why would a gift to me lead me want to move?"

"I can't say for sure what he is thinking, but if you accept this gift and his spies tell him that you are using the gift, that opens the door for him to send you more gifts and to see if he could arrange a marriage match for you, which would look to be the best opportunity that you have and which will mean your Father will want you to take the match and then you will move to the capital."

I frown, thinking of the possible implications, "So would it be an insult if I am not seen in the daimyo's gift?"

"It will be a minor insult, but nothing a few drinks will not satisfy. After all, it is your Father who decided if you keep the gifts or not. Which is why you wrote the lovely thank you note. This way everyone is satisfied, and the daimyo knows that you are not easily bought." Mother smirked widely, "This means when he tries again, the gift will be more expensive and worthier of my daughter."

I nod, knowing that when that present came, I would have to wear it, I only hope that it will be something that I will want to wear and be seen in.

 **AN: Now the fun begins. Sorry if there was a difficult time understanding the passage of time. Time should be a little easier now, especially since it is going to slow down. Also** **Tsukio is older and learns about time moving forward. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.**


	3. Graduation Tests Begin!

The year I turned twelve was the most important year of my life. This was the year where I could take the test to become a genin! I was excited, but also very determined. Everyone in the class was. Our spars were more intense, especially when members of the Suna Council would arrive to watch our progress. I continued to work on getting to one thousand reps of my exercises, I could run around the village twelve times by now, I just needed to work on my speed. My chakra control was as perfect as I could make it. I was ready!

This year, we learned a couple easy jutus that we would be tested on, we also got our chakra elements tested, and we had to learn a single jutsu with that element. The body replacement jutsu was interesting, I found it easiest to perform the replacement with a plant or the planks of wood in the area for being used as a replacement, other objects were very difficult for me to do, especially when we had to use something that was significantly smaller than we were.

I am a wind element, which is not unusual in Suna, we are in the Land of Wind after all. There were plenty of wind users, there were a few fire users and single water. We were split up into different groups to learn our elemental jutsu, we were excited about this because this meant we were not going to have a teacher that was not fit for duty, but a teacher that knew this element very well.

"Hello class," a blonde woman said, her hair in four ponytails around her head.

"It's Lady Temari!" I whispered along with the rest of the group. It was the lone female in the legendary Sand Siblings, the oldest sibling to the Kazekage. Standing in her black dress with her giant fan behind her back, Temari is an impressive looking shinobi.

"Today you are going to learn a very simple wind jutsu. You should all know the hand signs by now, this one is fairly simple, it is just Rat," Temari held her two hands together in front of her body. "Wind Style: Air Current Dance," then moving her hands so the palms faced away from her, and the group, we saw the sand in front of Temari move! "With this technique, you can control the air currents from the palms of your hands, this will allow you to easily move dust or sand to blind your opponent. You can also use this to fan flames from your teammate or to push someone away." Temari let her hands drop. "Now I want you all to face away from each other and try."

I quickly walked away from the group and stood with my back to a wall. Then I copied what Temari did. I frowned, nothing happened. I glanced around and saw that a lot of the other students were having the same trouble. I tried again, this time focusing my chakra into my hands and concentrating on how a breeze feels. This time I was able to get a little breeze, but nothing like what Temari did.

We spent the rest of the afternoon practicing, at the end of the day most of us were able to create and control a small breeze, nothing more than what a paper fan could create, but it was still a breeze!

"Great job, everyone. I am sure that with lots of practice you will be able to do this technique just as well as I do." Then she smiled, "And when you are ready, you can try it with this," she pulled her fan, which had been on her back the whole time, open and then with a great sweeping motion with her hands the fan moved, and she shouted, "Shinobi Art: Sandstorm Jutsu!" The sand around her kicked up into a huge cloud and moved away from her fan. After a minute or two, the sand settled and to our shock, we saw that the entire training ground, including the wooden targets, were covered in a fine layer of sand.

"Wow, that is awesome!" one of the students whispered in awe.

I nod my head, that really was awesome.

"Class dismissed," Temari said before turning to walk to the edge of the training grounds, where the new Kazekage was standing!

"It's Lord Kazekage!" we whispered to as we started to walk away from the training grounds. I really wanted to stay and talk to Temari and ask her questions, but with Lord Kazekage there to talk to her, I didn't. I could always ask my questions later, or I could go to the library and see if they had any books or scrolls on the different Wind Release techniques.

I hurried away to the clothing store since it was closer to where the Academy and training grounds were than it was to my house. I needed to pick up my new clothes, with my graduation coming up, Matsuri convinced me that I needed new clothes, to look my best. While I was there ordering my new set of shinobi clothes, the shop keeper asked if she could show me something. She held up a sketch pad and in it, there were a couple of sketches of outfits. The first one was a tank top that bared the stomach and a pair of shorts, the other was of a halter top that also bared the stomach and a short skirt.

"When you become a genin, you should think of changing your look to reflect your status as an adult," Matsuri said. She graduated last year and was very helpful when it came to sharing what she knew about the graduation exam. "Depending on the types of missions you get, you need to establish that you really are old enough to be a shinobi, even if you look like you are much younger than the client."

"Clothes will do that?" I ask, highly doubtful that I would ever be able to pass as older than I was.

"Well it doesn't hurt," the shop keeper replied instead. "I have some pieces that are similar enough to these sketches that you can see if any of it appeals to you."

I shrug, "Might as well, it couldn't hurt."

Matsuri and the shop keeper exchange a smile and together they spread out across the store, looking for the four pieces of clothing. Knowing the drill by now I walked back to the dressing and fitting room.

"I swear Matsuri, the only reason you convince me to come and get new clothes is so you can dress me up," I yell from the back room.

Both women laughed, "Well there is that" Matsuri replied, "But mainly I like looking at all the different clothes, even though I know I will never be able to wear them, but you can. Here," she held out a halter top and the shorts, "try these on."

I roll my eyes as I quickly strip down to my underwear and pull start to put on the shorts, "So tell me, how goes weapons training with Lord Kazekage?" I look at the shorts, they are pretty low on my stomach, it is at least one inch below my belly button. I pause to wrap my braid around my head and pin it there before I pull the halter top over my head. Struggling a little to pull it down I look at the outfit in the mirror. "A little," I pause, trying to think of the correct word, "small, don't you think?" I give the bottom of the shorts a small tug on the legs.

The shop keeper comes in with the sleeveless shirt and the skirt, "Well those are not your size, they are a little small, I will give you that. How do you feel in them other than that?"

I stop tugging on the shorts and on the halter top, "Well, they show that I gown up now," I yank the neck up a little, "I feel like my breasts are hanging out of the top," I go to bend over but quickly stand straight when I feel the pull on the shorts seams. "And no matter what you say, I know my ass is hanging out the bottom of these shorts."

"Then try these on, they will cover more of your breasts and your butt," the shop keeper laughs.

Taking a small breath and pulling the halter top off and folding it neatly on the bench, the shorts follow quickly. I pull the skirt on, noting that it does in fact cover to midthigh, then I pull the top on and see that the neckline is in fact much higher, despite the fact the bottom of the shirt is only a couple inches from the bottom of my breasts. I twist in front of the mirror, looking at myself from all angles. "I admit, these do make me look older," I reluctantly say.

"It does help that you developed those breasts early and have been binding them down," Matsuri replied.

I snort, "Have you tried sparing with Saya, Koji or any other guy for that matter when you have breasts? It is like they suddenly forget that you are their opponent and focus on the fact you are female, and they get to lay on you. It is very annoying."

"Well, at least you only have a few more months of that before you graduate and will join a genin team."

"What do you think of that outfit, Tsukio?" the shop keeper asked.

"I think I like it, although I will need something under the skirt, so I can fight without worrying about my underwear. I can move in it freely," I move through a quick set of hits, blocks, and kicks.

"The skirt is short enough that you will be able to move without worrying about the fabric obscuring your movement or view. It is also loose enough to ensure that you can move your legs any way you want to. You could either put some shorts under the skirt or some mesh armor. You might want some armor under the top, across your stomach, maybe something for the arms," the shop keeper mused, pulling out her sketchbook and making some changes. "The shorts should end an inch below the skirt, armor under the shirt making the neckline not as deep and offering some protection to your stomach. Yes, I think this is perfect!" The shop keeper held up the final sketch and grinned.

Matsuri took the sketch from the shop keeper and grinned, "You are right, this is perfect. The best mix of the two."

I walk over and look over Matsuri's shoulder and smile, "It is very lovely." I run my finger over the page lightly, "However I can't wear something like that until I am fully an adult, you both know my mother, modesty is her middle name."

The shop keeper grinned, "I have the perfect solution, in fact, I have been trying to figure out how to show you, but now is a perfect time." She hurried out the back of the dressing/fitting room and I could hear her moving stuff around. A few minutes later, she returned, "Here it is! Your mother and I have been working on this design for the last two years! Trying to keep the robe modest while also being fully functional as shinobi clothing. Now, this really should only be for a special assignment, not when you get to be a chūnin or higher unless you are given permission to wear your own clothing," the shop keeper spoke quickly and held the garment up in front of me.

I looked at it. It looked like a normal robe until the shop keeper waved the robe, then I noticed that the side seams were not together, and the sleeves were slightly larger than they needed to be and slowly widened after the elbow.

"Put your arms up," the shop keeper instructed.

I put my hands up over my head and felt the soft fabric over my hands. I slipped my hands into the sleeves and the shop keeper pulled the robe down.

"There you go, now all you need to do is take this belt," she held out a length of fabric, "and wrap it around your waist to hold the robe closed."

I took the fabric and wrapped it around and around myself until I had just enough to make a small bow with the two ends. I look at myself in the mirror and smile, "It looks nice," I tell the shop keeper. "You said Mother was involved?"

The shop keeper nodded, "Yes, the two of us have been working on this, it is going to be a present for your graduation, so act surprised," she laughed, "Any colors you want to have in it?"

"Browns and pinks, please?" I ask.

Matsuri snickered, "Of course, pinks and browns. You should try some silver or blues, Tsukio, for your namesake."

I childishly stick my tongue out at her, "You never answered, how is weapons training with Lord Kazekage?"

Matsuri blushed, "It is going well, Gaara-sensei says that I have almost mastered at using the johyo and I should think about a different weapon to learn. I was thinking a smaller fan or something else I could hide in my weapons pouch."

I nod, as I start to change back into my regular clothes. "I can see that a smaller fan will make manipulating the wind much easier, you will have to do fewer hand signs which will make your jutsus less detectable when you finally do them."

"The problem is most fans are more of an offensive weapon," Matsuri complained.

By this time, I had finished changing, I smiled at the shop keeper and whispered, "If you could make the outfit we just tried on, in my colors, I will pick them up after I get my first mission pay."

"Of course, that way it will be your money and not your parents, very smart." The shop keeper grinned and made a note of the sale in her ledger, "I will start on it now, and consider it a graduation gift from me."

"Thank you," I whisper, as Matsuri continues to debate the benefits to different weapons.

"A sword is definitely out, protection is not what a sword is about. I could look at the longer weapons, it would keep me out of arms reach which will be helpful, but it also increases my risk of hurting someone on accident."

"Use the fan, Matsuri. It is a great defensive weapon, you can use it to disorient your enemies while providing cover for your team if they need to get away."

Matsuri nodded.

"Besides a fan is easy to disguise as just a regular fan if you need to sneak in some place, just like a senbon can be used as a hair stick or you can hide poisons in your lipstick."

Matsuri frowned at me, "I can't understand how you can look at different things and see them as weapons. You are always looking at ways to hide your weapons."

I grin, "I come from a civilian family. I have a mother that is very upset about the fact her only daughter is learning to kill people, so she has a rule that when I am not training or at the Academy I am not to have any weapons on me. When we go to dinner or a party, I must be extra sneaky, because there is usually shinobi present and they should be able to detect any weapon." I shrug, "It has gotten more difficult since the daimyo is interested in making Father moves back to the capital. The daimyo keeps offering husbands for me, better and better matches, including some lesser house's sons. Mother is excited about the matches because it means that the wealthier patrons of the store are taking notice of me."

Since this was Matsuri's day off, and I didn't have to be at the store for the day, we walked leisurely through the main road of Suna, glancing into the shop windows and when something caught our interest, we would stop and look.

"I'm getting hungry, did you want some food?" Matsuri asked.

I grinned, a glance at the sun told me that it was close to dinner time and Matsuri was thinking about Lord Kazekage not eating. "I could use a bite, but only if we get it to go, I need to get home soon. Father is due back within the week and Mother is on the warpath to make sure everything is perfect."

Matsuri laughed, knowing that my reason was just an excuse to cover for her worry. "How about that yakitori place ahead?" she asked.

"Sounds good. I can get some chicken thighs for me and some meatballs for my brothers," I say to myself.

Matsuri shook her head, "Is your mom going to be mad about bringing home food for your brothers?"

"Probably not, it isn't like I am bringing home dangos or something else sweet."

We walked up to the stand and place our order and stood off to the side to wait for it to be cooked.

"So, are you going to be entered into the chūnin exams soon?" I ask.

"I don't think so, Gaara-sensei said I'm not ready yet. I think it has more to do with how dangerous the exams are. Also, there is a rumor that they will be holding a new form of chūnin exams, with the Hidden Leaf, so that could be interesting. He may want me in that one."

I nod my head, "I can't wait to graduate in a couple months, my brothers will be old enough to take care of themselves so that I can focus on becoming an awesome shinobi!"

Matsuri laughed, "I think we have different ideas of what an awesome shinobi is."

"Of course, we do, we both want to protect our friends and family; however, we do it differently. You through protection and me through wanting people to turn around and hide when they see me coming or at least hear my name." We both share a laugh when our names are called.

I pull out one of my yakitori sticks and slowly eat the chicken thigh. "Did you want me to come with your while you drop off Lord Kazekage's dinner?"

Matsuri nodded, "If you don't mind."

"No problem, that way we can just breeze in, drop the bag of food in front of him and waltz out."

"How many ways do you have to walk?"

"In the girl's classes, we have learned three ways, but Mother has an unlimited way to walk across the room. It is strange to be able to tell her mood just through her footsteps. Or to know if there is someone who needs to be impressed."

"That is just weird," Matsuri agreed.

"Weird, but surprisingly useful."

"How so?"

"Easy, it lets me know right away without Mother or Father had to say anything, that I need to pay attention to someone or something. You want to learn how to breeze in and waltz out?" I ask with a grin.

Matsuri rolled her eyes, "I would love to see you breeze into the Gaara-sensei's office."

I grin, a challenge, I love challenges. We walk into the tower and Matsuri waves to the chūnin at the missions' desk and walks towards the stairs leading up. I take out my second stick and slowly nibble on the chicken, following right behind Matsuri.

"I brought some dinner for Gaara-sensei," Matsuri told the person at the desk in front of a large door, at the end of the hallway, at the top of the building. This room had some chairs along the wall, two desks flanking the doorway, and unless I missed my guess, there were at least two ANBU hiding in this room. The man at the desk nodded and waved towards the door.

Matsuri turned and raised an eyebrow at me, I grin, and take a small bite of a piece of chicken and nod at her to go first. Matsuri shook her head and grinned as she walked towards the door. Opening it, she walked to the side of the room and turned to watch me.

I give a shrug to the person at the desk and follow Matsuri into the room. I walk in, with a friendly, if slightly too friendly smile. My feet hitting the floor at the proper distance apart so that my shoulders seem to float forward. I soften my grin as I look at Matsuri and wave a hand towards the desk I see at the far end of the room and say softly, although I know that my words carried across the distance to the occupants of the room, "Just drop off the bag quickly or I will have you explain to my Mother why we are later than normal."

Matsuri laughed at my very empty threat, but she did walk across the room to set the bag of food on Lord Kazekage's desk.

"No, not like that, shorten your footsteps, don't stomp so much, you need to look like you are in a hurry, but also like you are floating," I say as I watch Matsuri cross the floor.

Matsuri turned to glare at me before she did as I said.

"Now that is how you breeze into a room," I said, then started to giggle as I finally saw who was in the room. Lord Kazekage was sitting at his desk, staring at Matsuri, while Temari is grinning at me and Lord Kankuro was staring with his mouth hung open.

Matsuri shook her head at my giggling and set the bag of food on the table.

"Oh, is that for me?" Kankuro asked, reaching for the bag.

Matsuri started to blush and shook her head. Seeing my friend's distress I quickly breeze forward, still nibbling on my yakitori and set the bag of chicken meatballs skewers on the table next to the first bag. "Nope, these are for you and Lady Temari, Lord Kankuro." I bow from my waist to about a forty-five-degree angle, the proper angle for both the Kazekage and his siblings and for the fact that Lord Kankuro and Lady Temari were Jōnin shinobi.

Matsuri gave me a small frown.

"Matsuri was convinced that her sensei would be too busy to remember to eat and as his siblings and well-trusted advisors, you wouldn't have any dinner, so she convinced me to accompany her to bring you all something small to tide you over until you are able to call it a day."

Matsuri shook her head at me and sighed.

I turned to grin at her, a purely evil grin because I was calling this payback for making me her dress up doll today.

"No," she stuttered, "that's not what happened."

I get my grin under control, give the Sand Siblings another bow and turn to Matsuri and loop my arm through hers, "Now did you ever get dancing lessons?"

Matsuri shook her head.

"Hmm, okay then. I will show you how to waltz out. You can practice if you want to, but for the most part, it is all about looking like you are floating." I stop and think about what I just said, "Hmm, I seem to use the word floating a lot today," I shrug again. "So anyway, this is how you waltz out of a room." I proceeded to walk away from the desk, with a brisk pace, my shoulders back and head held high and my upper body not moving too much. "Basically, you look like you were able to do something very easy and you are conveying that process with your walk, think," I pause, "That you just scored the perfect score on a test and you want everyone to know you did."

Matsuri frowned at me, glanced over her shoulder, before trying to copy my walk.

I smile, "That is good. Now you know how to breeze in and waltz out."

At the door, Matsuri turns and says, "I hope you enjoy your food, Gaara-sensei, Lord Kankuro, and Lady Temari."

We both quickly walked out the door, once it was closed behind us I started to laugh. Bent over, holding my stomach I continued to laugh until my stomach started to cramp. "The look on your face when I started to tell you how to walk... was priceless Matsuri."

Matsuri grinned at me, "The look on Lord Kankuro's face when you put the food on the desk, now that was priceless. I am sure he was just trying to embarrass me in front of Gaara-sensei."

"Well if he is anything like my brother's, then his goal was not to embarrass you, but Lord Kazekage. The bane of every sibling's existence is the other siblings."

"Now you don't have anything for your brothers," Matsuri sounded upset by this.

"Don't worry about it, I will just take them out for some kakigori (SHAVED ICE) this weekend."

Matsui nodded, having been around my brother's when offered the flavored shaved ice treat and knowing how much they loved it.

"Now I really must get home," I say, glancing out the window at the sky that is quickly darkening.

Together we rush down the stairs and into the street. We started to run as soon as our sandals hit the dirt. We were not racing but we were rushing. A few minutes later, we slid to a stop in front of my house, not even breathing hard I grinned at Matsuri.

"Thank you for the extra training and the stop at the clothing shop. I hope you have some good missions tomorrow and I will see you on your next day off?"

"Of course, Tsukio. I will send word and we can either work on your running speed or something else."

A quick hug and the two of us went our separate ways, her back towards the shinobi barracks and me to the door where my little brothers were waiting for me. I lean down and give them a big hug, "Hello Takashi! Hello Isamu! How was your day?"

I grinned as both my brothers started talking over each other. Takashi was in school now and so he was telling me all about what he learned. While Isamu was busy learning how to run the store from Mother.

"You are late," Mother called as I walked into the living room. The frown was apparent in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Mother. Matsuri and I were training, and I lost track of time," I shrug one shoulder.

"Your father should be home tomorrow, so I will expect you to be home on time." Mother replied, not looking up from the fabric she was embroidering. When Father was gone, or when Mother was mad, she would pull out this piece of fabric and start to embroider it, she said that one day it would be the fabric used for her funeral dress.

"Yes, Mother."

"Now did you learn anything new today?" Now that my scolding was over, my nice, loving Mother was back.

"Lady Temari came by today to teach us how to perform a wind jutsu," I reply.

"Lady Temari?" Takashi asked, slightly awed.

I grin as I move to sit in my favorite spot in the living room area, my pillow already on the ground. I sat on the pillow under the window, where I can feel the wind on my shoulders. "Yes, we share the same chakra nature. Although I am sure that Lady Temari was just there because she didn't have a mission. So, we will go back to our normal teachers tomorrow."

"But still for Lady Temari to come over and teach you, is a huge honor," Mother commented, "I trust you were on your best behavior and you didn't do anything to embarrass yourself?"

"I was Mother, and I didn't."

Mother nodded and smiled at me, "Maybe she will remember you at your graduation and she will take you on as an apprentice."

"I doubt that, Mother. There are many other wind users who are much better than I am." I tell her truthfully.

Mother smiled at me, "There might be more talented wind users, but it takes more than talent to become a shinobi, Tsukio. You must look at something other than talent with looking for an apprentice, you look at the heart to see if they have what it takes to surpass you."

Takashi sits down in the chair next to me while Isamu climbed into my lap. Mother smiled at all of us, before stabbing the fabric to start what looks like a flower, maybe.

 **AN: So here we go, the story finally picks up. I hope you enjoyed this next chapter. Please excuse any grammar or spelling errors, I do my best to catch them, but sometimes they just slip past. Let me know what you think so far. Until next time.**


	4. Can You Keep Your Cool? Test

Later that week, we broke up into our elements again, only this time we just had our normal teachers monitoring us. I was able to make a steady stream of air, similar to the amount of air you would create blowing through a straw, but I was excited about it simply because this was progress, and anyone who has a younger sibling knows that the power of air through a straw.

I could feel eyes on me, not that being stared at was unusual for me, after all, Saya hates me, so she is constantly glaring at me any chance she gets. Before I could turn around to pinpoint where the feeling was coming from, the teacher called for everyone to go into the classroom.

We all filed into the classroom and took our seats, mine is in the middle of the room, closest to the windows. The teacher reminded us to make sure we were on our best behavior. Of course, that had a predictable effect and the people around me started to whisper, trying to guess who our guest was. And really, if I hadn't continued to feel the staring, I would have been more curious, but hey, with a guest versus the feeling that someone was trying to drill a hole into my back, the staring feeling was going to win.

My searching was interrupted when an elder walked in, followed by Lord Kankuro, Lady Temari and Lord Kazekage! The other students quickly quieted down and we all sat up straighter. Behind the Kazekage was Matsuri, who gave me a small wave when I caught her eye.

"Listen up! As you all know, the Lord Kazekage has been working hard at making some changes to the curriculum at the Academy," the elder said. His voice was familiar, so I turned my attention to him. He was wearing the traditional robes of an elder, he also had the turban covering his head, but half of his face was covered also. It was the two red marks on the visible side of his face, though that triggered my memory. It was the teacher we had on the first day of sparing, the one who told me how to train to get better. He was correct, that the teachers did teach me what I needed to know about fighting, but it was up to me to create the muscle that would ensure that I could do more than just fling myself around.

"As you know, your graduation exam is coming up soon. As you all know, we," he waved a hand to the group standing with him, "have been observing you for some time. Sometimes as instructors, but most of the time, observing you from a distance. Outside of the Academy grounds, you have been followed and observed by the other shinobi of the village. This is to see how you behave when you believe you are safe from the eyes of your teachers. This has been a test to see how you will behave as a Shinobi of the Sand while in other lands. The most important thing on a mission is?"

I raised my hand, along with most of my classmates, Lady Temari pointed to me, "Completing the mission objective." I answer.

"What else would be important on a mission?" Lady Temari asked me.

"Ensuring the safety of your teammates," Saya answered with a smirk.

I can feel my eyebrows lowering as I think the elder said we were being tested to see how we would behave as Shinobi of the Sand while in other lands, which means while we were on a mission. What did that have to do with our behavior? Without me telling it too, my mouth started to voice my thoughts, "If we are on a mission, then we are representing Suna and the trust that our Kazekage has in the team assigned to the mission. So, it is important for us to carry ourselves as representatives of the other shinobis, the Hidden Sand Village and a representative of our Kazekage...?"

Matsuri gave me a huge grin that lit up her face and I gave a huge sigh of relief, I got it right.

"Very good," the elder replied. "Now that you understand the object of this test, can you tell me why it is important to leave a good impression of Suna?"

I look around the room and see no one was willing to answer, and I know that I'm not going to answer again and risk the wrath of Saya, so I quickly write my answer on a scrap piece of paper. Looking around I see Koji staring at me and I take the paper in my hand and whispering, push the paper off my hand and over to him using the jutsu I have been practicing. A quick glance showed that Saya didn't see what I did, and I motioned for him to read it.

Koji frowned at me, but did as I asked, he shot me a grin and raised his hand. "If we leave the client or others with a good impression of Suna, the client and others will be more likely to choose Suna shinobi next time they need to hire shinobi again."

"That's right," Lord Kankuro, "In order for clients and potential clients to be willing to pay a little more for a Suna shinobi, it is important for them to have a good impression of us. Which means you always need to remember that you are being watched. We have some important people who come to visit from time to time and you will need to remember that they are there. Also, there was also important people who live here, and they will tell their friends in other countries that we are the best and worth the extra cost."

Saya raised her hand, "Why do we have to worry about being nice to people when we know we can complete the mission?"

"It is the same reason you should think about how you treat other people. A long trip is much more comfortable when you like the people you are with or can at least act like you like them. Clients almost always want a comfortable trip," the elder said.

"Now that you understand this lesson," Lady Temari said, "It is time to see if you have learned anything, for the next two weeks, you will be monitored, just like before. However other shinobi and some civilians will be going out of their way to," she paused, "encourage you to act in a way that will not leave a favorable impression of Suna. It is your job to figure out how to resolve these problems without killing, injuring or if possible offending them."

Having given the new test, the group walked out the door. Once the door was firmly closed the class erupted in whispers. Koji walked over to where I was sitting and sat on the table.

"Well at least this is one lesson we learned from the cradle," he groaned.

"True," I roll my eyes, trying not to focus on the fact that Saya and Sana glared at the two of us, "So why didn't you answer the questions? I mean it isn't like we haven't been learning this for a long time?"

"I didn't want Sana to focus on me again," he replied quietly.

I nod my head and suppress a shudder when Saya and Sana team up together it is awful. They are especially sadistic when it comes to us civilian born. "But you do want Lord Kazekage to remember you, along with the elder council. They are ultimately the ones that decide if we graduate, get promoted and the types of missions we are assigned."

"I know but remember that we still have to get through the rest of the session and there is a chance that one of us could be teamed up with Saya or Sana."

This time neither of us could hide the horrified shudder that wrecked our spine.

"I hope not, but really the teams are just for missions, and so the Jōnin are not spread out too far. Besides, both Saya and Sana come from shinobi families, they could still be apprenticed. Especially since Saya is a puppeteer."

Koji groaned, "Oh Kami, can you imagine Saya in the Puppet Corps with Lord Kankuro as her sensei?"

"Don't even try to curse us all like that," I hissed.

"You shouldn't have to worry, not only is your father the most prominent merchant in the village, but you are friends with Lord Kazekage's student."

"As if any of that is going to save me if I can't pass our exams." I pause as a thought entered my mind, "You don't think this latest test is part of our final exam, do you?"

Koji blinked and the frowned, "Oh Kami, I hope not, because if they really have been monitoring us for as long as they have, they have figured out our triggers and will specifically use them on us."

I sigh, "I guess we just have to be on our guard until someone tells us the test if over."

"At least they told us about this test instead of just launching it as us as they did with the genjutsu test that we all failed," Mijin joked from behind me. I turn my head and smile at the boy with light black hair and the purple markings on his face, the longest going across his eyes and the second on his chin.

"Well there is that," I replied.

"Any idea what they will use to get you to lose it?" Mijin asked.

I shrug, "I have many triggers, so it will be interesting to see what they will do."

"It would be stupid to conclude that this will only consist of a single confrontation," Ameno said from where she sat next to Mijin.

"Oh man, this is going to suck!" Koji replied. "Do we have any safe place?"

"Until we start seeing results of the testing, I feel it is safe to assume that we will not have a single safe place," Ameno replied.

I gently pat Koji on the knee, "They said shinobi and some civilians, so I would say it would be safe to assume that your siblings will not be part of this test."

Koji falls back dramatically with a sigh, "Well there is that at least. I can at least continue to harass my siblings."

"Don't you have an older brother?" Mijin asked.

Koji sat up, "Yeah."

"Is he old enough to be able to perform in a situation like this?" Mijin continued.

"Yeah," this time the answer came out slowly, a little forced, then, "Damn it! I can't harass my older brother!"

We all burst out laughing at Koji's antics, at this point, we are used to him acting like this.

A cough had every head swiveled to the front of the classroom where our teacher stood in front of his desk, "Class is dismissed for the day. Don't forget your essay on the different chakra elements and how they interact with each other."

The classroom is filled with the sounds of chairs being pushed out and pushed back under the desks and students talking to each other. I loop a long scarf around my neck three times before letting the ends hang down my front, while Koji grabbed a long jacket, Ameno picked up her books and Mijin stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for us.

"So, when do you think the first confrontation is going to happen?" Mijin asked as we walked down the hall to the doors.

"I doubt it will happen today, we are all expecting it. More than likely it will happen when we are at our most vulnerable." Ameno said.

I laughed, "Well that just means that Koji will have to be extra alert because he is always ready for a fight."

"Shut up," Koji said as he shoved me, hard enough to rock me, but not hard enough to knock me down.

The rest of us just laugh as we walk out into the hot sun. It is technically the cold season, but we still live in the desert, so cold is relative. The biggest threat during this time is the unexpected sand and wind storms that come out of nowhere, which is why all of us were wearing something we could cover our heads and mouths if needed.

We walked down the street to the center of the village, with a promise to let the others know if we thought we were being tested, we parted ways. Koji and Mijin heading towards the shopping area and Ameno and I walk towards the hospital.

"Do you think you will get your apprenticeship at the hospital?" I ask once we were firmly on our way.

"I hope so, my parents have both said that I have lots of potentials, while the instructors are hopeful that if I can pass the tests, I should be," Ameno replied.

I nod, "Are you planning on starting the tests before or after we graduate?"

"I would like to start them right away, that way I will be able to know if I will be taken on as a medical shinobi," Ameno confessed.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders, "You have nothing to worry about, you will be the best medical shinobi Suna has ever seen and of course, you will be the only one I allow to treat any wounds I get," I tell her with a huge smile on my face.

Ameno blushed a little at my display, "I wish I had your confidence."

"Bah! You have the best chakra control of the whole class; the hospital would be stupid to not take you in and train you. Besides, it isn't like there is a stampede of people wanting to be medics, so I would say your chances are much greater than say the rest of us learning if Sana really has a heart or if she is just another doll for Saya to play with."

This makes Ameno laugh, just like I intended, so we walked into the hospital with smiles on our faces.

I walk up to the front desk, "Hi, I'm here for some shots and bloodwork."

The nurse at the front desk looked up and smiled, "What is your name, dear?"

"Tsukio," I replied.

"Head over to the second floor, third door on the right, just walk in and give someone inside this," she handed me a piece of paper with some boxes checked.

I smile, "Thank you," and I turn to look at Ameno, "Do you want to come with me and we can get our stuff done together?"

Ameno shook her head, "You go ahead, I am here to see if the administration has made a decision on if I can start training here or not."

I smile and give her shoulders a quick squeeze, "They would be a bunch of idiots if they chose not to allow you to train to be a medic. If you think it will do any good, Father can lend his support to your request."

Ameno smiled at me, "I would appreciate the support. I will let you know if they need another endorsement for me."

"Go and kick… err... heal some major butt!" I call out to her, as I start to head over to the stairs smiling as I hear Ameno's laugh follow me to the second floor. Following the directions from the nurse at the front desk, I walked into the third door on the right. A quick glance showed that I was currently alone in the room, so I stayed near the door.

Once a person arrived in the room, I quickly handed them the paper in my hand. I held out my arm, and they quickly sat me down and went about taking some blood. For all the great shinobi jutsus, taking blood was still a needle and some vials. The jutsu came in with the preservation of the blood.

Blood work was very common for shinobi, it was an easy way to ensure that the shinobi didn't have any new diseases or problems. Since I am just about to graduate, the hospital needed to complete my medical files, including blood type and a DNA sample. The DNA sample, we are told is to help identify our bodies, but I overheard Mother, Grandmother, and a matchmaker talk about using the information for genetic compatibility. After the blood was drawn, the medic gave me three shots, made note of it and I was released.

Walking out of the room, I walked quickly down the hall, keeping an ear out for Ameno's voice, ready to provide support if needed. I am convinced it was because I was so focused on listening for my friend's voice that I didn't notice when I walked right into Lord Kankuro's back, who was talking to Lord Kazekage. Oh, please ground, just open and take me now. I could feel my ears heat up as I blushed, it didn't help anything that Matsuri started to giggle at my "oh Kami take me now" and my "oh shit!" face.

Crashing into Lord Kankuro, I thankfully didn't fall on my butt, but I did have the air knocked out of me and I did get pushed back a few spaces.

"Shit, I mean," I grimace, "I'm so sorry Lord Kankuro," I bow and look at the floor, "forgive my clumsiness. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. There is no excuse."

Kankuro gave me a grin, "Hey, no harm, no foul. If being run into by an Academy brat hurts me, then I need to go back to training."

I straighten up, "I should have been paying more attention. I apologize for interrupting your discussion with Lord Kazekage." I turn to walk around the small group to go down the stairs, firmly focusing on my surroundings.

"Wait," a low gravelly voice came from behind Kankuro.

I stop and turn to fully face the voice of Lord Kazekage.

"You didn't," he paused as if to gather his thoughts, "interrupt us. So please, don't worry that you did."

I smile politely at him, I know enough about people that he was just being polite, "Thank you, Lord Kazekage." See, I tell myself, I can be polite too.

"You are Matsuri's friend who brought us food the other day, correct?" Lord Kazekage asked.

I nod, "Yes Lord Kazekage."

He bows his head a bit, "Thank you, Kankuro and Temari were both grateful for the food."

I can feel the pleasure of his words bubble along my nerves, Lord Kazekage thanked ME! I smile, this time it is the smile I save for my friends and when I am truly happy, "You are most welcome, Lord Kazekage. I am honored to be able to do such a small thing for you."

Matsuri smiles at me, "Gaara-sensei, am I finished for the day?"

Gaara turns his head and stares at Matsuri for a moment, "Have you chosen your secondary weapon yet?"

Matsuri nodded, "I am going to use a small war fan."

I grin at my friend, happy that she made a choice and that it is a good one for her.

"Very well, you are dismissed then. You can start practicing with it on your next day off."

"Thank you, Gaara-sensei," Matsuri walked over to me and grabbed my arm and pulled me down the stairs.

"Did Lord Kazekage just thank me for giving his siblings meatballs?" I ask once we are out of earshot.

Matsuri giggled, "He did."

I blink, "Interesting, I think. I will think about it later. So why are you here?"

"My team and I are going on an escort mission to the Land of Snow and I needed some shots."

"So, Lord Kazekage and his brother accompanied you for shots?" I ask, incredulous.

"No, they are here for something else, Gaara-sensei just made sure I got my shots," Matsuri explained.

"Ah," I reply.

"Why are you here?"

"Pre-graduation blood work and some shots also," I tell her. "Also, Ameno is here to find out if the hospital administration is going to allow her to train as a medical shinobi today so we came together."

"Is she in your class?"

"Yes, she will make a perfect medic, she has almost perfect control and she is compassionate," I grin, "Unlike yours truly."

Matsuri snorted, "Please, you can be compassionate, you just choose not to be."

"I guess," I concede. "So now that you are released, what are your plans?"

"I was thinking that I should make sure I have everything I need for this mission. The Land of Snow is cold, especially this time of year."

"True enough," I agree, "Father always wears a thick jacket and he keeps special stones in the pockets that are supposed to keep your hands warm. I think there is a fire jutsu on them, but since he won't let me look at them I am just guessing."

"How thick of a jacket?" Matsuri asked.

"I think it is very thick. I would assume the supply people would have the things you would need. But for sure, something warm on your legs, maybe leg warmers and a cloak would work."

"Want to come with me?"

"Sure, just let me check to make sure Ameno isn't waiting for me." I turn to the front desk nurse, the same one who was there when I entered, "Excuse me, did my friend already leave?"

"She did, but she said she would meet you at the usual place when you were finished," the nurse answered.

I smile, "Thank you." Turning to Matsuri, "I have a quick stop to make before I can come with you. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Matsuri answered.

I smile, "Then let's go!" Together we hurried out of the hospital.

 **AN: Here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy this journey. We are finally picking up speed. Granted, we are still slower than a 100-year-old turtle, but we are moving :)**


	5. A Reason to Celebrate

Our usual meeting place was a little garden near the greenhouse. It was full of flowers that are native to the desert but have little to no medicinal value. However, it was peaceful and offered a rainbow of colors. While mostly green, there were purples, reds, and yellows. Arranged in pots and raised beds, all to offer a tranquil setting, it was a wonderful meeting place for us. Knowing that Koji and Mijin would also be waiting for us, I hurried along. Matsuri followed, making idle chatter about her upcoming mission.

Seeing Ameno, Koji and Mijin already there, I called out, "So, did they say yes?"

Ameno turned with a smile that made her whole face light up, "They did!" she squealed.

We all started jumping up and down, celebrating our friend's good fortune.

"I told you they would be stupid for not accepting you," I said giving Ameno a hug.

"You will be the best medic that Suna has ever seen," Koji said.

Mijin smiled and gave Ameno a hug, "I'm proud of you," he said.

Matsuri stood off to the side. She was two years older than us and had graduated almost two years ago. I frown at how she has separated herself from us, it isn't like she hasn't hung out with us before. I took my self a few steps away and looked at Matsuri.

"What's wrong?" I ask in a low voice.

"Nothing," she said quickly, too quickly.

"Come on, tell me what is wrong." I encouraged.

"It is nothing," she insisted.

"Not true," Ameno said, having walked over to where we were standing, "You are not normally this standoffish."

"I," Matsuri sighed, "I am just worried about this mission." She gave Ameno a smile, "I am happy you were accepted into the training program at the hospital. I know you will make a great medic."

"Thank you. Now, what is wrong that you are worried about your mission?"

"I guess it is just this will be my first time leaving the Land of Wind and I will be gone for at least a month. Not only do we have to go through the Land of Earth, but we also have to take a boat."

I nod, "It has been a long time since I went to the Land of Earth with Father, but from what I remember, there are lots of rocks and riding a boat is not too awful, at least not unless you get seasick."

Matsuri frowned at that, "How do I know if I get seasick?"

Koji gave a low laugh, "You get sick when you are out to sea. It is the cold season, so the winds will be harsh, but an experienced ship captain will know how to handle anything that comes. At least you will not have to worry about sea storms this time of year."

Matsuri looked pale, "Is there any way to prevent seasickness?"

"Not that I know of, although shinobi probably have a trick or two to help with it. How my mother deals with any type of sickness are that she will nibble on candied ginger, it helps with nausea," Koji answered.

Ameno smiled, "I have some candied ginger at my house if you want some. My mom likes the taste of it, so we always have some. I'm sure she won't mind if you take some."

"I don't want to trouble your mom, I can get some at the store."

"Nonsense, it is no trouble at all. Besides, my grandmother is the one that makes it, so it is a special candy." Ameno replied with a wave of her hand. "When do you leave?"

"In the morning," came the reply.

"Okay, I can run home and grab a bag for you. Where did you want to meet up?"

I chime in, "We are heading to the shinobi supply unit, to get some cold weather clothing for Matsuri. That should hopefully take less than an hour. We can meet up," I pause to think, what is a good place to meet up, but also to be able to celebrate Ameno's apprenticeship? "How about we meet up at the barbeque place across from Koji's parent's store? That way we can send off Matsuri with a good meal and be able to congratulate Ameno too?"

The group nodded their heads and I took Matsuri's arm and together we walked back towards the Kage tower to the supply building. When you became a genin, you were given access to this building, it had a number of items that one will need for various missions. Blood pills, hydration pills, military ration pills, along with other forms of rations were the most common things requested. However, you could get some medicines, bandages, other basic medical supplies. With the extreme differences in temperature for this mission, there should be some cold weather gear available.

"Shinobi registration and mission number," barked someone from the back of the room as the two girls entered.

"Shinobi 42-013, mission C-12G," Matsuri responded.

I raise my eyebrow at her, "Mission number?"

"The mission number tells the rank, location of mission and the rank of those going," the voice from the back replied. "In this case, it is a C-rank mission with a team of genin going to the Land of Snow."

I close my mouth with a click of my teeth as Matsuri giggles.

"I am wondering if I could have a month's worth of rations, some seals to help treat frostbite and some warm clothing," Matsuri called out.

Out from the back came a man with a scar across his nose and his arms full, "You have your pick of ration pills or bars, I have a cloak you can use, the hood is lined with fur and I have some gloves for you." Setting the pile onto the counter, the man looked over the pile at Matsuri.

"I think a mix of pills and bars will be preferable, that way I can have a small variety to work with," Matsuri paused, "I think I will need some extras, in case Mikoshi forgets to replenish his supply."

The man with the scar smiles, "How about a month's supply of both?"

Matsuri nodded, "Thank you. I will also take the gloves and cloak. Anything to treat frostbite?"

The man shook his head, "Sadly we don't have anything like that right now. You might want to ask a hospital closer to the Land of Snow. However, I can tell you that you should bring extra sandals, which I also have in this pile, you don't want your toes to freeze."

Matsuri smiled, "I can do that, thank you for your help."

"Sign here," he held out a large book, which Matsuri signed, pulled out a storage scroll and put everything she got into the scroll.

"Thank you again," she said.

The man nodded and turned to look at me, "Do you need anything?"

I shook my head, "No, I am just here to keep her company for a little bit."

He nodded, "Okay, have a good day girls."

We both waved as we walked out of the building. "Do you need to drop that stuff off at your room?" I asked.

"No, I'll just put them into my weapons pouch until I go back, then I'll add it to my backpack."

"Awesome!" I say, "Hey, let's stop by the store, since we are sort of close by, I want to tell my parents where I will be for dinner."

"Sounds good. Is your father going to be at the store?"

"More than likely both my parents will be there," I reply as we turn and start walking towards the civilian market where the store is located.

This part of town was much busier, as this market had more of the higher quality items that are not specific for shinobis. This means, better quality cloth, the rarer food items, and finer pottery. Walking into the store, I saw one of the elders was in the store, so I waved to my Father who was helping him and took Matsuri by the arm and led her to the back.

"Mother?" I call out when I cross through the doorway.

"Up here," she called from the second floor, where we store our extra merchandise or the items we don't want to display at the time.

"Come on," I tell Matsuri and together we walk up the stairs. "How are you today Mother?" I ask.

"I am trying to find that washed silk cloth your father brought back a couple of months ago. One of the village elders will be hosting a party soon and I know that his wife will love the silk for a new dress."

I look around the room and head over to the opposite direction, "I will look over here, Mother." I dive into the stack of large bundles of fabric and I continue, "Mother, Matsuri is traveling to the Land of Snow tomorrow, do you still have those leg warmers you made for me when I was supposed to go with Father a couple of years ago?"

Mother paused, "I am sure I do, they would be in your travel trunk if we still have them." Looking at Matsuri, Mother frowned, "You should have some long leggings, not just the leg warmers," turning to look at me, "Look through my travel trunk, there should be a couple of pairs of leggings that should fit Matsuri."

"Thank you, Mother," I say. A bright orange color from the corner of my eye caught my attention. Climbing over the latest bundle of fabric, I pull the canvas cover off a large group of fabric rolls and gave a cry of delight, "Found it!"

Mother walked over and looked at the fabric I pulled out of the bundle. Examining the orange fabric that changed to a dark pink depending on how the light hit it, Mother smiled, "Yes, I think this is perfect for her."

I smile as I climb out of rolls of fabric now uncovered.

"Fix this," Mother called as she carried the fabric roll downstairs. I sighed but quickly righted the fallen bundles and covered them back up.

"Let's head to my house to see if I can't find those leggings for you," I say as Matsuri and I walk down the stairs.

Seeing that Mother was talking to the elder, I walk over to Father and say in a low voice, "Ameno was accepted into the hospital as an apprentice and Matsuri is going on a long mission. So, some friends and I are going to go out to dinner to celebrate."

Father smiled and pat me on the head, "Do you want to bring a gift for your friends?"

I lean into his hand, "Mother is offering Matsuri some of her warm leggings and I was going to stop by Koji's store to see if they had anything that looks appropriate for the hospital apprentice."

Father nodded, "Just put it on my tab if you find something. Don't go crazy though," he laughed.

I share the grin with him and turn to walk out, "Of course not Father. I'll be back before curfew."

Father grinned and waved at me as I walked with Matsuri out the door.

A couple of minutes later, I arrive at my house, I can hear Grandmother singing, while the boys are arguing about something. I walk in, "I'm home!" I call out.

The boys stop arguing and Grandmother calls out a hello. Matsuri and I take off our shoes and walk into the house. "I'm going upstairs to the storage area, we can talk when I'm done." I go upstairs to the room that we call the storage room, it is basically a room filled with large trunks that are labeled with our names. I open my truck and dig through the contents, which really amounts to a bunch of civilian clothes that I wear when I occasionally accompany Father on his trips to gather merchandise.

"Ah ha!" I call out, holding up a pair of black leg warmers, "You can use these," I hold them out to Matsuri, then I close my trunk and move over to where Mother's trunk. This trunk holds all the clothes that Mother uses while traveling. It is rare for us to travel anywhere as a family anymore, but when we do, we all enjoy the experience. Soon Takashi and Isamu will be accompanying Father because I will be a genin, which means I will not have time to go anywhere.

Mother's trunk is very organized, so I was quickly able to pull out two pairs of leggings, one in dark blue and the other a very dark brown, "These should also fit you. I know they are not your colors, but they will keep you warm."

Matsuri smiled, "I just want to be warm, the idea of snow is a little scary for me."

I smile, "The idea of traveling across the sea on a boat is what bothered me the first time. The idea of that much water is just scary."

Matsuri nodded, "There is that too."

We are both quiet for a minute, then the sounds of my brothers invade the silence. We share a smile before, I close the opened trunk and together we walk out of the room.

As soon as my foot hit the bottom stair, Takashi and Isamu each grabbed a leg and started to tell me all about their day. Takashi was very unhappy that he couldn't do any of the cool things the shinobi came to test them on, while Isamu learned how to change a lightbulb at the store. I kneel and hug my brothers, "Sounds like you both had exciting days."

"I did!" two high pitched voices agreed.

"I love you both," I tell them, giving them a kiss on the forehead, "I am going out with Koji and some friends for dinner, and I might not be home until after you two are in bed, so promise that you will be good for Mother and Father and I will take you both out for shaved ice tomorrow."

Two faces lit up, "I promise," Takashi promised while Isamu nodded in agreement.

"I know you will," giving them another hug I stand up and walk to the door where Matsuri is already standing. "Boys, Matsuri is going on a trip tomorrow and she will be gone for a while, did you want to say anything to her?" I ask pulling on my sandals.

"Safe travels, Matsuri," Isamu called out.

"May the wind be to your back and the sun guide your way," Takashi said.

Matsuri smiled, "Thank you, Isamu. Thank you, Takashi. I will see you when I get back."

The boys waved and went back into the living room to continue whatever game they were playing.

"Let's go to Koji's store," I say, glancing at the sun, "We only have a little bit."

Running across the road and around the corner, we arrived at the store Koji's parents ran.

"Hello Tsukio, are you here for a gift for your friend too?" Koji's mom asked.

I grin, "Koji already got something?" I asked.

"He did," she replied.

"What did he get, so I can get something to compliment it."

Koji's mom pulled out a book about medical herbs from around the Elemental Nations, "He said that she already knew a lot about the herbs found in Suna, so she should learn about the herbs in other areas."

"I can see that; do you have a recommendation for something else?" I asked, looking around the store.

"I would recommend a special bag to be able to put herbs in, or maybe a notebook to keep all of her notes, or maybe some nice parchment to label some crystal vials."

I frown, thinking, "What is special about the herb bag?"

Koji's mom smiles as she holds up the bag for inspection, "As you can see, there are lots of pockets to separate different items, along with these small loops to hold vials of things."

I look hold the bag and examine it, noting the above average depth of the bag and the high number of pockets. "This is a very nice bag, how much?"

Koji's mom gets a small gleam in her eye as she looks me up and down, "Four thousand ryo."

I frown, "For this little thing?" I ask, "It doesn't even come with the parchment envelopes or vials."

Koji's mom grins, "The pouch is high-quality cloth, resisting fading from light, it also is reinforced to avoid any slashing damage."

"I can modify a regular weapons pouch, that has all of those qualities, to have some of the pockets for the vials and packets of herbs and that will only cost me," I stop and think about it, "two thousand ryo total."

"This workmanship is top quality, I will not take anything less than three thousand five hundred ryo."

"I won't pay anything more than three thousand even," I counter.

Koji's mom grins, "Deal!"

"Do you have some crystal vials in stock?" Matsuri asks.

"Of course, child, and for you, one hundred ryo each," Koji's mom replied.

Matsuri looked over at me and quirked an eyebrow.

I lean over and whisper, "That is a good deal, she is giving you the family discount."

"Then I'll take eight, that should be enough to start Ameno out," Matsuri replied.

Koji's mom quickly wrapped the vials in paper to prevent them from breaking and then set them in a very pretty gift bag. She then put my purchase into a box and added a bow.

"Thank you, Koji's mom," we chorused as we walked out of the store with our purchases.

"Come back soon girls," she called out after us.

I wave to acknowledge I heard her and walk across the street to the barbeque restaurant where we are meeting our friends.

I glance at Matsuri before we enter, "You know you can invite your team to come to dinner with us, right?"

Matsuri smiled as we walked in the door, "Thank you, but we are going to be on top of each other for the next month or two, so we all agreed to spend this last night in the village, apart from everyone. Sensei says this should keep us from killing each other while we are on a mission. I have my doubts, but I will trust him."

I nod. Looking around I see we are the first to arrive, so I wait for the waitress to come and seat us. It doesn't take long for Koji and Mijin to arrive, light-hearted bickering announcing their entrance before we even saw them.

"Hey, guys!" I say with a small wave.

"Hey Tsukio and Matsuri! How did it go at provisions?" Mijin asked.

"Very well, I have rations, a warm cloak, and some extra shoes."

The waitress shows us to our table and we all order tea to drink and some garlic edamame to start with while we waited for Ameno.

I sat quietly while the conversation rolled around me, drinking my tea. It was nice to not have to make conversation and get lost in my head for a little bit.

 **AN: Ah, they grow up so fast! On their way to becoming genin, and fully fledged ninja.**


	6. Keeping Cool and Bringing Honor to Suna

The class was on edge, we all could see it. At lunch my friends and I tried to figure out when will the test start. So far, no one was tested yesterday, and after the relaxing dinner we had, the tension of today was hard. I couldn't imagine two weeks of this. Ameno said that she was convinced her tests will begin today, because today she started her training at the hospital. Nothing big, she informed us, just cleaning tasks, since she couldn't do any healing until she graduated from the Academy.

I had to work at the store today after the Academy, Father had a meeting to go to and Mother was at home with Isamu because Grandmother was sick. It just meant that I would be up training early tomorrow before the Academy.

The afternoon went by quickly as we were all worried about when our test would come. Koji was acting so formal it would have been funny if the rest of us hadn't been acting the same way. It was a benefit to coming from a merchant family that we are taught from an early age how to deal with unruly customers and how to resolve issues that may arise in a manner that leaves all parties satisfied. Unfortunately, it does mean that we will be expected to deal with much harder problems.

I was at the store, when the elder from the other day came in holding the silk fabric. His face was red and his whole body radiated anger.

"Hello, honored elder, what can I do for you?"

"I bought this fabric yesterday for my wife and it has a stain on it!" He threw the fabric on the counter and shoved his finger at a small stain in the very center of the fabric.

I frown as I think while looking at the stain. It looks like it is ink, which means washing it is out of the question. Maybe there is a cleaning jutsu that I don't know about, but I could ask around to see if someone knows. But that isn't going to help me now, I remind myself. Making sure to put a small smile on my face I ask, "Do you know what made this stain?"

"No, I do not! However, I do know that I didn't make the stain! The fabric is ruined, and I can't give this to my wife for her to get a new dress made from. I want a new roll of fabric."

I pause, "Let me see if we have any more of this silk upstairs." I know we don't, but it is the easiest place to start. If we did sell the fabric with a stain on it, we are at fault, at least in this situation. I try not to roll my eyes as I hear the elder downstairs muttering about substandard merchandise. He wonders if this means that Father is ready to retire because he is getting old and senile. These all were standard negotiating phrases, so I didn't pay them too much mind. Although the one about Father needing to retire was a new one.

A quick look through the storage area proved that there wasn't any more of that silk fabric available. Which, yes, I know, but still. So, I walked back down the stairs and holding my polite smile I said, "We don't have any more of that fabric, would you be interested in something else?"

"No, I want this fabric! It is perfect for my wife's new dress and she will look lovely in it. I need this fabric!"

I unfold the entire length of fabric and see that the stain had gone through the fabric, rendering the fabric unusable. I was hoping that I could just cut the offending part off, but no, that wasn't going to happen. "Let me see if I can't clean some of this off," I say. Moving to the back, getting a small bowl, filling it with hot water, filling another bowl with warm water and some soap and a small piece of cloth to use as a sponge. I take a towel and place it on the counter and take the stain furthest from the center of the fabric, or the one closest to the edge, and started to dab the stain with the cloth dipped in the soapy water. Instead of the stain moving to the towel under the fabric, or even transferring to the soapy cloth, it started to spread on the cloth.

"You are making it worse!" The elder yelled from across the counter.

I take a deep breath and count to five, "That was just the first thing I could try, it is normally the easiest to try and remove the stain. Especially since the color of the stain does not make it easily identifiable." Slowly taking another breath I open my mouth to continue.

Before I could continue I was interrupted.

"I didn't pay a ridiculous amount of money for a stained piece of fabric, only to be told by a child that I should have tried to clean it!"

I blink, that wasn't what I was saying at all, "You misunderstood me, honored elder. I was just trying to figure out what type of stain it was and to see if I... eerrr, to see if the stain could be removed easily to salvage the fabric."

"Are you saying that I didn't think of that?" The elder's voice was rising in pitch and volume.

"Not at all, I just have to do the test myself. It is the only way to learn what the stain is."

"Well, now that you have successfully spread that stain on my fabric, what do you think the stain is?"

I bite my lip, because to be honest I have no clue what it is. "I can tell you that it is not dirt, food, drink or ink. To get a better idea, I would need to perform some more tests." Knowing this was not going to go over well, but I needed to ask, "Was the fabric like this when you bought it?"

The elder looked at me and I watched as his face, which had been a dull red to begin with began to turn a vibrant red, his nostrils began to flare, "Are you saying that I paid for a stained fabric? I trusted this store to ensure that I would get quality goods and you are telling me that you hid the fact this fabric was stained from me until I got home? I want my money returned plus ten thousand ryo for my troubles and I will be sure to tell everyone that you sold me a stained fabric and then tried to say that I was the one that stained it!"

Well shit, this was going downhill fast, everything I said would be taken in the worst possible light. "Honored elder, I am sorry if my actions have offended you. I didn't mean for that to be the case. I am just trying to figure out what happened." I waved my hand as if to brush the rising tension away, "None of that matters anyway. Let me buy this fabric back from you."

"Buy it back?" He asked, suddenly interested.

"Yes, instead of just refunding your money, let us buy back the offending fabric." This really was a shot in the dark. Maybe he will be so distracted by the negotiations that he will not see that I am, in fact trying to just refund the purchase, but if I can get it for a lower cost, then good for me. If everything goes well, we will both walk away from this feeling good. I look at the elder, waiting for his opening bid.

"Four hundred thousand ryo."

I blink, but that is the only evidence of my shock. I need to think for a minute, the fabric originally cost him just over two hundred thousand ryo, so my starting bid should be below the original cost, but I didn't expect him to start so high, which left me in the position of going too low and I will offend him, but I didn't want to pay more than two hundred thousand ryo! "One hundred fifty thousand." I state.

"That is an outrage! I originally paid more than that for it!"

I open my spread my hands in front of me, "This is a negotiation, honored elder. My father would be ashamed of me if I started too high," I deliberately looked up at him through my eyelashes, not looking like I'm flirting, but trying to look like I am trying to look young and not flirting.

"Three hundred seventy-five thousand."

"One hundred ninety thousand."

The elder glared at me, "Three hundred thousand."

I couldn't go too high up, I wanted to at least match the original price, but it was looking like I wasn't going too. Now I needed to figure out how to get below the two hundred fifty thousand price at this point it was a matter of pride. Keeping my expression neutral I gave in, "Two hundred thousand."

I watched at the elder smirked at me, knowing that he knew that I had gone over my original limit. I work hard to not let him get to me.

"Two hundred ninety thousand."

Feeling cocky was his? Well let's try, "Two hundred one thousand."

He frowned, this was not a normal strategy I know, but I refuse to go much higher than I have already. "Two hundred eighty thousand."

"Two hundred two thousand."

"Two hundred seventy-five thousand."

"Two hundred two thousand five hundred."

The elder smiled, "Do you think you can get rid of me so cheaply? Two hundred fifty thousand."

I shrug, knowing that I am giving him the signals that I am reaching the very limit of what I am willing to pay. I also know that he is already below my max. "Two hundred three thousand."

"Two hundred forty-five thousand."

I lean against the wall behind me and cross my arms, "Two hundred five thousand."

"Two hundred twenty thousand," the elder called out.

I could almost feel the excitement coming off him as he continued to move on the high of getting me above my price. "Two hundred ten thousand in store credit."

"Deal!" he crowed with triumph.

I give a large sigh, "Two hundred ten thousand it is," smothering my grin I bend over and to take the ledger from its place under the counter. I straighten up and move the fabric over to the side, out of the way. My hand is above the ledger, about to write the elder's name when he stops me.

"No need for that, you have passed your test."

I glance up at him, seeing the face of the elder, not the elder who bought the fabric, but the elder with the red marks on his face. I blink as I look around the room. The elder I was negotiating with was nowhere to be seen and the fabric on the end of the counter was not the right fabric!

"What is going on?" I ask.

"A transformation jutsu, don't worry, nothing happened while you were in it. You did very well." The elder with the red marks on his face smiled, picked up the fabric he brought in and walked out of the store.

I sighed a huge sigh of relief. My knees felt a little weak, so I collapsed on the floor behind the counter and concentrated on breathing. This could have been so bad if I really had negotiated such a high price, but store credit was a good thing, it forced them to come back to the store. But still, that was a lot of credit for a single family.

I finished my time at the store in a daze. Father came in to help close and balance the books, and together we walked home. I ate dinner and fell into bed, exhausted and just ready for the day to be over.

 **AN: Tsukio survived this test, can she survive the rest of them? As always, let me know what you think. I have so many plans for this fic, I just need to get there.**


	7. The Calm Before the Storm

**AN: Standard "I don't own anything" disclaimer**

The next day, before the teacher came in, I turned to my friends, "So I was tested yesterday."

"You were?" Ameno asked.

"What happened," Koji asked at the same time.

Mijin just stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

"You know how I was supposed to be watching the store yesterday? Well my Father had sold some very expensive fabric to one of the council elders yesterday. The elder came in today and proceeded to tell me all about how the fabric was stained and how he wanted his money back. How I was being rude and calling him stupid, then he said that he was going to tell the whole village that we sold him stained fabric and then made it out to be that he stained it."

Koji's mouth dropped in shock.

I look at him and nod, "I know! So, I was able to get the elder to negotiate a price for the store to buy it back, because he wouldn't let me look over the stain to figure out what it was and if we could remove the stain. I know Father wouldn't sell a stained fabric to anyone, much less a village elder, but he wouldn't let me figure it out. Everything I said was taken to mean the worse possible meaning. It was bad. Once we started to negotiate a price for me to buy back the fabric, the elder dropped his genjutsu and told me that I did well on the test."

"Do you think that is your only test?" Mijin asked.

I shook my head, "I doubt it. They must have known that testing me in the shop would be difficult because I am representing my parents and it has been engrained in me to never upset the customer. Even if we take a hit on our profits, a happy customer is one who returns."

Koji nodded in agreement, "Same here. I wonder if they will try to get me at the shop?"

"I hope they do, at least there you know how to act, and you know the rules. If the elders were able to get this detailed, then I am afraid of what they will try next."

"It does mean that even those we think are our family members are not safe. If they use a genjutsu or even a transformation jutsu, we wouldn't know." Ameno whispered.

Koji dropped his head onto the table in front of him with a loud bang, "I wish they would just test me already, this waiting is going to kill me."

"Be careful what you wish for Koji," Mijin replied. "You could just be asking for trouble."

"I think we are already in trouble. They got Tsukio at her parent's shop during a time when she wasn't supposed to be there," Ameno mused.

"Right, Father had a meeting and Grandmother was sick, so Mother had to stay home with…" my voice trails off, "You don't think they made all of this happen, do you?"

"Made your grandmother sick?" Koji asked.

"Doubtful," Mijin replied, "However I wouldn't put it past anyone to have encouraged your parents to set it up so that you would have to be at the shop. It wasn't a coincidence that your shop was empty, nor that there were not any other customers that came in during the genjutsu."

I give a huge sigh, "That is true. So, I guess the whole idea that we have a safe place has just flown out the window."

Ameno, Koji and Mijin nodded. Thankfully the teacher walked in and class began. Today's lesson was all about finding water in the desert. I didn't pay too much attention, because Father and Mother both made sure I knew how to find water while we were traveling. Mother also taught me about the plants that are eatable and how to find small animals, lizards or snakes to eat. One of the shinobi from when I was little taught me how to get water from the cacti plants.

We had a break for lunch before we broke off to the girls' classes. This lesson was about how to apply makeup to change your face.

Saya interrupted the teacher, "Why would I need to do that when I could just perform a transformation jutsu to change my face?"

"Can you maintain a transformation jutsu while you are sleeping?" The teacher responded.

"Why would I need to do that?" Saya snarked back.

"If you are in a situation where you need to sleep with someone for the mission, or if you need to be in a place for a long time, or even if you need to be able to pass scrutiny and avoid being labeled a shinobi, you need to be able to change how you look without relying on chakra. Yes, chakra is the most efficient way to change how you look, a genjutsu is a good way to have people just not look at you, but you need to have more than one way to change your face or to make youself look different." The teacher replied.

"Now, the easiest way to change your face is to apply makeup, by mixing the light face makeup and the dark, you can change the shade of your skin, you can even create a slightly different face shape. You can also use makeup to make your face look more masculine or more feminine." The teacher pointed to different pictures as she spoke.

"Your task today is to help each other figure out how to change your face. You can either go younger, older, look more male, or even just change your facial structure. You are not allowed to use a transformation jutsu, only makeup." The instructor then walked to each table and gave the table a box of makeup. "Once your face is done, we will talk about clothing, which will be the second part, so be thinking about that as you create your new face."

Once the teacher tells us to start, Ameno and I turn to each other.

"What did you want to do?" I asked. I was thinking about either going younger or just a little bit older.

"I was thinking about trying to go older, a more mature woman, but not old."

I nod, "So just making your eyes and lips stand out, and making your cheeks bones stand out. That should be easy. Your clothing could create more curves, maybe enhance your cleavage."

"What about you?"

"I was thinking about going younger, rounding my cheeks and widening my eyes."

"You could wear baggier clothing around your waist area to disguise your hips and chest," Ameno agreed.

"So, let's get started," I pulled out the darker shades and started to create fine lines around Ameno's eyes and around her mouth, not enough to make her look old, just older. Ameno took over to blend the lines and finish her eye makeup, while I got started making my face look younger. A generous use of the different colored powders helped to create a rounder looking face and some shimmery makeup helped to make my eyes look rounder. I also made sure to take my hair out of its braid and pulled it into pigtails at the back of my head.

Ameno was finishing her makeup, making her eyes shine and her lips stand out, then she took her hair and pulled it up into a bun. "So, how do I look?" she asked.

I grin, "I think you look older, for sure. How about me?"

Ameno looks me up and down, "Yes I think you managed to look younger."

"Thanks, now to figure out what to wear and how to act, for sure."

Ameno rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, the whole acting older or younger is easy, after all you have to act older than you are when you are at the store and I do while I am at the hospital. As for younger, we both have younger siblings that we can model after."

I perk up, "That is true."

After thirty minutes the teacher stood up and started to talk about how makeup was important, but so was dressing the part. The teacher brought in several racks of clothing and had us all pick out an outfit for our look. We would be graded on how well we changed our appearance. I made sure to get a robe with a higher neck and a scarf that was bulky, I also played with the sleeve hems to make them a little longer than it should have been, and I took the hem of the robe and let it down so that more of the robe would drag on the ground. If I had more time, I would have aged the hems, but we only had thirty minutes, so I worked with what I had.

I helped Ameno get into a more form fitting robe, with a much lower neck. We also worked at tightening the waist with a fashionable belt and adding some padding to her bra helped to make her look more mature. The slight lines on her face and the flirtatious smile really sold the look.

We stood in line at the front of the classroom and the teacher inspected us. She also gave us pointers on where to improve. Most of the girls in the class tried to go older, a few of them succeeded. Ameno was one of those, however she was told that she needed to pick, either her eyes or her lips, there were too many lines to help her pull off the look, unless she was going for an older woman wanting to be young again. Which was a viable disguise, we were told.

"Nice job on looking younger, Tsukio. However, it would be easier for you to go younger if you were not so tall. But the longer hems on the robe, that was a very smart move, it helps to sell the idea of you just being from a tall family."

"Thank you, sensei," I murmur.

Saya had gone for the complete geisha look, full white face with red eyeshadow and lips. The teacher nodded and gave Saya some ideas as to completing the look through a wig and some extra clothing choices.

Before the teacher dismissed us, she left us with a warning, "Being able to change how you look is important, but you also need to remember the context in which this new look will be showcased. It will not be a good idea to have a geisha infiltrating a school, but it is also equally unwise to have a child infiltrating the daiymo's house. So be mindful of those facts when you do this again."

Ameno and I race down the stairs to get the front of the school to meet our friends.

"Hey you two!" Koji shouts from down the hall, as we burst from the stairwell onto the first floor.

Skidding to a stop we turn, and I wave, "Hey Koji, where's Mijin?"

"He is coming, he had to ask the teacher a question about our homework."

"You have homework, that is lame." Ameno said.

Koji shrugs, "At least we didn't have to play dress up," indicating our makeup with is hand.

I grin, "Well it was a fun lesson at any rate, better than having to learn about flower arrangements again or how to properly wear a formal kimono."

Ameno shrugged, "The kimono lesson wasn't too bad."

"That is because you were not the one stuck wearing five layers of silk, and not good silk either." I complain. Which Ameno and Koji laugh.

"Are we going to train today?" I ask.

"I have to report to the hospital," Ameno said.

"I promised Mom that I would go do some shopping for her," Koji replied.

I nod, knowing that Mijin would work on his homework before doing anything else, he was just that studious of a person.

"Okay, I need to head over to Matsuri's aunt's shop to see how those clothes are shaping up, then I need to go and do some training. I am still shaky on my wind jutus, and I would like to be able to run around the village twelve times in an hour, so I guess I will work on that."

Ameno gives me a hug, "We can train later, when I'm finished at the hospital, if you want."

I shake my head, "Don't worry about it, Ameno. I am just nervous; the final exam is going to happen in less than two weeks. I just need to work out some of these nerves."

Koji nodded, "You will do just fine, Tsukio. You work harder than anyone else I know."

"I hope so, Koji. I just don't want to mess up." I wave as we start to head in different directions, "See you later."

A quick stop at the clothing store, showed that the shop keeper was busy, so I just waved and mouthed that I would be back later and headed towards the edge of the village. I quickly stretch, before I start with a slow jog to warm up. After my warmup, I stopped to stretch again to make sure my muscles were fully prepared for the punishment they were going to go through. Making note of my location, I started off on a slower run.

I was able to get lost in my own thoughts, making note of how many times I crossed my starting point. I blame the fact that I was lost in my head because of the monotony of running for the fact I ran straight into Lord Kazekage and Lord Kankuro. Rather I ran between the two, while they were sparing.

"Shit!" I yell, quickly throwing myself to the ground as something large and black comes flying at me. I roll to the side and jump back to my feet, "What they hell! I was just running, minding my own business when…" I stop talking when I see who I am yelling at. Twice! I've done this twice this week! Oh man, this sucks and I know that I am screwed.

Lord Gaara is standing to my left with his arms crossed, he is not wearing his Kage robes, but a dark red coat, brown pants and a gray vest, his gourd is strapped to his back. While to my right is Lord Kankuro, wearing his usual black outfit with the purple kabuki makeup on, this time outlining his eyes and lips, along with a line down his nose and a separate line going down his chin. Lord Kankuro's mouth is open in shock, I hope, and while I am watching I see his whole face harden as he pulls his puppets close to him.

"This is a training ground, and what are you doing running around without looking at where you are going?" Kankuro demanded.

I take a deep breath, trying not to get myself in more trouble, this is just not my week. "I am truly sorry for interrupting your spar, Lord Kazekage, Lord Kankuro. You are correct, I was not paying as much attention to my surroundings as I should have. As to your claim that this is a training ground," at this I tentatively point to the small line of rocks that I was on one side of with Lord Gaara and Kankuro was on the opposite side of, "The training grounds end there, so I am well within my rights to run here so long as I don't cross the rocks."

Kankuro looks from the line of rocks to me and back again, I swallow and offer a prayer to which ever gods might be listening that he is not going to turn me into lifelong Academy student.

I was saved by Lord Kazekage, unexpectedly for sure, "The girl is correct, Kankuro. She is allowed to assume safety on this side of the training grounds boundary." Kankuro opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted as Lord Kazekage continued, "However Kankuro is also correct in that you should be more aware of your surroundings."

I bow, hopeful that this was the worst that would happen to me, "Yes, Lord Kazekage. I am very, very sorry that my inattention has caused problems with your spar. Lord Kankuro, I am truly sorry for interrupting your spar." I kept my bow for a few extra seconds before I straightened up. "I will leave now, so you may finish your spar."

"Wait!" Kankuro said as I turned to walk away.

Suppressing a sigh, I turn back, "Yes?"

"Why are you running?"

"I am training. I was told that once I can perform one thousand pushups, sit ups, squats and other various calisthenics exercises along with running around the village twelve times in under an hour, I would get better at taijutsu."

Kankuro scoffed at my explanation, "And you believed the person who told you that?"

I shrug, "It may not be the total truth, however if I can run around the village multiple times, then my speed is enough to allow me to run greater distances, if I can do one thousand push-ups and sit ups, then I have the muscle to back up any punch or kick I want to perform. While this will not make me better at taijutsu, it does give me the skills needed to be better at taijutsu."

"How so?" the Kazekage asked.

"If I can outrun my opponent, then I have the opportunity to set up traps or at the very least ensure that I can choose my own battle field. It doesn't matter how well I can hit, if I have no muscle to back up the hit. Besides, I don't have to hit someone multiple times, if one hit can take my opponent out." I reply.

"Sound reasoning, I suppose," he nodded.

"Well, being fast and strong is not going to help anyone if they can't even hit what they are aiming at." Kankuro interrupted.

"True, Lord Kankuro. I have improved my taijutsu skills to the point where I can hit what I am aiming for and now, thanks to the advice given to me, I am able to damage what I am hitting."

The two are silent for a little bit, I nervously glance between the two men, should I pray that they don't recognize me? I am sure I don't want to be known as the clumsy friend of Matsuri. Then again, being known to the Kazekage and his siblings could be a good thing.

I was trying to figure out how to extract myself from this situation, because frankly I am not going to be able to finish running my laps today. I bow at Gaara and then bow at Kankuro, "I bid you both good bye," and I turn around and walk away.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid Tsukio!" I mumble to myself as I walk away. "Just go and make a great impression on the Kazekage and his brother. Not to mention that you could have gotten killed, then how would you become a shinobi?" I stomp down the road, trying really, really hard to not bump into anyone, yet again, because really, I don't need to confirm that I am just that clumsy. When really, I'm not!

"Tsukio!" a familiar voice calls out.

I turn and see Mijin and Koji standing next to a store behind me. I smile and walk over to the two, "Hey guys, how is everything?"

Koji looks at me, "Why are you so red in the face?"

Mijin asks at the same time, "Did you finish your run around the village?"

"Yes, I was running around the village," I smile.

"Are you done?" Koji asks.

"I am now, what do you need?" I ask when Koji's face lights up at my answer.

"Great! Then you can help us. Mom wants me to get a wedding present for some high-ranking family's daughter who is marrying someone outside of the Hidden Sand. And we," pointing to himself and Mijin, "have no idea what to get her. She is seventeen and she is marrying into a rich family. So, they won't need dishes or sheets."

"You mean your mom isn't going to give them money?" I ask.

"My parents are, they just want to give the bride something extra to remind her of her home." Koji explained.

"Ah," I say, understanding. "Then how about visiting one of the local artisans and get some local potter that is expertly decorated, something she can put on a shelf or small table and put flowers in. Or if the pottery isn't what you are looking for, then maybe some glass trinkets."

"Come with us?" Mijin asked, a note of desperation in his voice.

"Sure," I reply. During this shopping trip, maybe, I can push the disastrous meeting behind me, which would make me very happy.

So happy in fact that I went home and collect my two brothers to go and get some shaved ice. Laughing as the two boys race down the road to the shaved ice stand. It was a favorite of ours, although we didn't go there often, Mother doesn't like it when we eat sweets before dinner. I am taking them out tonight because Mother and Father are going to a dinner party that one of the visiting merchants is hosting and I oversee dinner. We did have a small bowl of miso soup and some rice with salmon, so I'm not totally neglecting our heath.

After collecting our kakigori we all walked down to the small garden near the green house. We sat down on one of the benches, the irrigation system turns on as the sun sinks below the plateau, not low enough to start sunset, but the harsh sun was not in danger of evaporating the water.

Imasu grins at me with lips stained red from the cherry, "Thank you Tsukio! I love coming here!"

I grin and ruffle my brother's hair, listening to the soft sounds of the water hitting the various plants. "I am so happy that you love coming here."

Takashi smiled and leaned against me, "You are the best sister ever."

"I love you too, Takashi," I grin at the purple lips of my brother and the happiness shining through his eyes.

The three of us fall silent just listening to the soothing sound of trickling water, my brothers are leaning against my sides. This is the best day I have had, in a very long time.

"Did you boys have a good day at school?"

"I had the Academy tests today," Isamu told me.

"How do you think you did?"

"I couldn't do all the tests, I could only do a couple of them," he said sadly.

I wrap my arm around his should and give him a hug, "Just do your best, that is all anyone could ask of you. Besides, if you don't make it to the Academy, that is not the end of the world. I know that Mother would love for both of you to take over for Father like he and Uncle Isamu did for Grandfather."

"Do you remember Uncle Isamu?" Isamu asked.

"I remember him a little," I reply.

"Tell me about your first memory of him," Isamu demanded, Isamu loved hearing about his namesake. Father was much better at telling these stories, but I had a precious few memories that I would share.

"We were coming home from a long trip through the sand. Mother and I were riding in the wagons when we stopped at our shop," I begin retelling my first time meeting Uncle. Isamu thinks it is funny that I could fall asleep when something exciting was happening. I just smile and continue the story.

When I'm done, Isamu falls silent and Takashi whispers, "Tell me about what you did today in the Academy."

"Today I learned how to change how I look with makeup, like they do in the theater. I also got to try on some clothes and to complete the transformation."

Takashi frowned, "That's all you did?"

I lean my head down to rest on top of Takashi's, "We are very close to graduation, so the teachers don't want to give us too many new things to concentrate on, but just the things we need to graduate. Anything after that will be taught to us by our master or sensei."

"Well I was learning about the history of the Elemental Nations," Takashi complained.

"Ah, that was boring for me too, especially since Father gives you some very funny stories about the creation of the nations," I sympathize. "Have you started your study of the history of Sunagakure?"

"We have done the brief history, after we are finished with the Elemental Nations, we are going to focus on the Hidden Villages." Takashi pauses, "At least that is what Sensei tells us."

"When you get to that point, I can help better, my knowledge of the elemental nations are pretty limited."

"Thank you, Tsukio," Takashi whispers as he finishes up his kakigori.

We sit and listen to the evening birds begin to sing for a while longer before I stand up and take the boys home. Isamu riding on my back while Takashi is holding my hand. For a moment, we are nothing more than children enjoying the evening away from our parents.

It is a great day and a memory I will hold onto when I get older.

 **AN: There we go, another day complete, one day closer to graduation. What do you think the Hidden Sand graduation tests will look like?**

 **Kakigori** **= Shaved Ice**


	8. The Final Test

Two weeks flew by in a heartbeat, we were all tested multiple times. Each test was a little different, each test was a little easier. The point of the tests was to ensure we would maintain our composure to be able to bring honor to Suna and really to make sure we didn't kill any annoying clients. Other than the first test, the most memorable test was when Ameno, Koji, Mijin and I were walking Ameno to the hospital when we came upon a shinobi beating a civilian. After a brief glance, the four of us jumped in to save the civilian, it turns out the civilian was Koji's older brother, which meant we had to hold Koji back from turning on the shinobi. Good thing Mijin is strong and Koji is reluctant to hurt Ameno. It was a crazy and intense few moments. But in the end, we were able to resolve the issue, with liberal use of apologies and promises to keep the two-shinobi separated for a while.

The day of our final written test was upon us in a hurry, we had all studied, Mijin is the best study partner because he is so studious anyway. He was able to keep the rest of us on track and not to descend into gossip, which is very easy to do. Especially when you have a friend who works at the hospital and gets to hear all the gossip from the hospital staff.

I sat at my desk, tapping my fingers in a rhythm only I could understand waiting for the teacher to show up. I just wanted this test finished! After the written test, we had an hour to prepare before our final test began. We were told it would be a survival test that would require us to use our taijutus, ninjutsu, and basic survival skills. I am convinced that that test was going to be the most difficult, only because it had to be. There were many skills that had to be tested and no one would tell us if there was a time limit or even how it would be tested. Koji was convinced that the test would be held in the arena. His reasoning was that a genin team was cleaning it out the other day.

The teacher finally arrived and the whole class took a deep breath.

"Alright class, this is your final. This test is to see if you learned anything while you were here. This test will cover everything we have taught you, from basic history all the way to chakra theory and elemental theory," as he was talking, he started to hand out the tests, a quick glance showed it was two pages, front and back! When he handed the final test to one of the students, he finished, "You have two hours to hand in the finished test. Read carefully. Good luck." With the final sentence, he turned around and sat at his desk. Eyes moving like a hawk as we quickly scrambled to finish the test.

Two hours flew by in a flash, words blurred together towards the end and I am convinced I completely failed this test. The questions were so hard! There were some that were easy, but some were obscure, like bloodline theory. However, my friends and I were able to turn in our tests before the two hours were up. We were herded into a different room and before I could even focus on what the room looked like, the world went black.

 **AN: A very short chapter, I know, but the next one will be up soon, like in the next couple of days soon. Thank you all for following this story, I promise, it is going to get going pretty fast soon.**


	9. Survival of the Fittest Team Trial

I woke up in the desert. It had to be the desert because there was no way the arena could have this much sand in it, nor could they create this rock outcropping. I slowly sit up to look around. The first thing that catches my eye is Koji's purple shirt next to me. I blink and can focus on the fact that Ameno, Koji, and Mijin are with me. I breathe a sigh of relief, at least I am with my friends for now.

Reaching my hands out I shake my friends awake, I frown as they don't move. Maybe it is a genjutsu, it would make sense, so I focus my chakra, place my hand on Ameno and whisper "Release." Ameno opens her eyes and blinks.

"Help me to release the boys, then we can figure out what the hell is going on," I whisper to Ameno, who nods and turns to Mijin to release him from the genjutsu.

Once the boys are awake and sitting up, we look around for a clue as to what the hell is going on.

"What is this?" Koji asks, pulling a piece of paper off my back.

I frown, "Read it!"

"You have been placed one hour outside of Suna, you have until the sun sets to get back to the main entrance. You can use any jutsu or skills you have learned. Be prepared to defend yourself, to the death if necessary. Those who make it back will win. You are placed with a team, but that team is not being tested, you are, as an individual. Good luck," Koji read.

I frown, "So we are here as a team, but we are graded as individuals?"

"So, it says," Ameno replied.

"Well the first thing to do is take stock of what we have, then we need to figure out which way the village is," Mijin says.

"Right," we reply and after looking through the bags our heads were placed on, we find that we all have a single canteen of water, a single ration of food, a supply of shuriken and kunai.

"Well that isn't much but better than nothing, I suppose," I say.

"Very true, at least they gave us food and water, with us only being an hour outside of the village they didn't have too," Koji said.

Mijin is looking at the sun, looking at the shadow of the rock we are behind. "It is afternoon, you can tell because of the heat and because of the sun's position."

I nod, "So we have more than five hours to get back."

"Anyone recognize the area?" Mijin asks.

This is the tricky part, so far, I am the only one of us who have traveled far from the village, however, most of us have gone at least one hour from the village. This was also tricky because this is the colder season when the winds come unexpectedly and can quickly obscure any landmarks.

"We should be able to see the plateau from this distance, unless it is obscured by something, like a genjutsu," Ameno ventures.

"Well let's hope it isn't obscured," Koji replies in a flat voice as we look around.

Pointing to the west, towards the sun Mijin says, "I see something that looks like Suna plateau over there."

We all turn to look, "It should be the only tall landmark for a hand's width on either side," I say. Together, we all hold up our hands to see if this tall structure is the correct one.

"I think Mijin is right. I say let's head in that direction," Koji says.

I look at Ameno and she nods, "Then let's go."

After a few minutes of walking on the sand in the hot sun, I could feel the beginning of a burn on my nose. Looking around, I see that no one in my group has anything to cover their heads or to keep the sand out of their mouths. My usual scarf was not around my neck either. I begin to glance around, trying to find something that would work to keep the sun off my face and head. Not seeing anything handy, I look at the bottom of my shirt. My shirt extends down to about mid-thigh, just above where my weapons pouch would normally sit.

While we are still walking, I take the kunai out of my backpack, I already hid the shuriken in my clothing, and I start to cut the bottom of my shirt off, just from the waist down, but it is enough to make two head coverings if we need to.

Holding up the fabric I ask, "Anyone else want to cover their head?"

Mijin raises his hand, "I do, if Ameno doesn't want it."

Ameno shakes her head, "I'm good for now, if I need something, I can always do what Tsukio did."

I grin, "I wonder what Mother is going to say when I come home with my shirt destroyed."

"We should decide what to do when we come across someone who is attacking us because we know that the attack will come since our taijutsu and ninjutsu will be tested," Koji said.

"You are a better close combat fighter," Ameno told Koji.

"I can use some wind jutsu to help cover us, if we need to run away or something," I offer.

"I can cover our backs," Mijin said.

"Ameno can you provide cover if Koji needs some help?" I ask.

"Absolutely," she replied.

We continued walking slowly towards the plateau, at this point we must have all concluded that we were going in the correct direction. By drinking small sips of water, we were able to ration it. We continued to work on a plan for when we were attacked.

"I just hope that it is a shinobi and not another group of students," Ameno said.

"If it is a group of students, I really don't want it to be Saya's or Sana's group," Koji jokes.

While we were walking, I noticed Mijin was playing with something in his hand, "What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I am trying something my mom told me about, she put shinobi wire on some shuriken and used the wire to make a trap."

"Oh, that is a good idea."

I focus on the sand in front of us, as we descend a sand dune, ahead I can see foot tracks leading towards a hard dirt path. "Guys, there is a path ahead," I call out as we slowly move down the slippery sand. I look around, out of habit, when I see something shiny from the other side of the path, behind another sand dune. "Something is over across the path from us," I whisper to Koji, who nods and goes to tell Ameno, while I move closer to Mijin.

I see Ameno start to slow significantly and Koji sped up a bit. Mijin sped up to walk next to Koji, palming the shuriken he added wire to. Taking up a position between the two groups, I start to focus my chakra.

"I think we should take this path," Koji called out, "it is well used so it must head towards Suna."

"I agree," Mijin replied.

"Me too," Ameno called out.

Looking over my shoulder at her, I see that Ameno is limping, and walking very slow. When she catches my eye, she smiles reassuringly. I nod just a fraction and move forward, "Then let's take the path."

Koji set one foot on the path and the ground exploded! In a rain of sand and dirt, we hear the whistle of shuriken flying. Acting on instinct, we started to move. I quickly performed the hand signs necessary and cast Wind release: Dancing Air Currents to clear the sand and dirt away from us and into the direction of the glint.

Koji quickly dropped into a defensive stance and took point, while Mijin dropped back to be able to see. As Mijin started to move, another rain of senbon came at us, and we started to dodge. I broke off my jutsu as I had to dive to the ground to avoid the rain of senbon. Mijin yelled as he threw his shuriken trap at the shape of the person standing on the other side of the sand dune. Koji followed the trap and with a yell started to attack.

Mijin quickly fell back behind Ameno, who stood ready to provide back up, while I quickly ran across the path to provide cover for Koji as he launched his attack. As the shinobi, the forehead protector showed he was a Suna shinobi, leaped back, I sent a blast of air into the sand in front of Koji into the unknown shinobi's face. In case you don't know, sand in the face hurts!

Koji and I focused on defeating the opponent in front of us, he would attack and when the opponent would break away, I would send another blast of sand at him. Noting that Koji was slowing down, I send a larger blast of sand propelled wind towards our opponent.

"Koji," I say as I run up to him, keeping the wind directed at our opponent, "If I keep this wind up, do you think you can manipulate the sand to form something like shuriken or kunai?"

Koji took a breath, "I think so, do you want me to make the stuff first, and you launch it at him?"

I nod.

"Okay," he started to concentrate.

I felt Mijin and Ameno come up behind us. "Koji is going to make sand weapons and I am going to use the wind to attack our opponent, can you two make sure he doesn't leave, maybe make a wall or something and the wind can fire back at him?"

Ameno nods, "I can add some water to the barrage, to cause more damage to him."

"Let me know when you are ready, and I will put up a wall right behind him," Mijin said, "if we do it right, we could pin him to the wall and run. Suna's main entrance is not that far from here."

"Sounds like a plan," Koji said. "I'm ready, how about you?"

I take a deep breath and focus my chakra into my hands and forcing the wind to whip even faster, picking up the sand weapons that Koji created. "Now!" I shout as I focus the wind into the direction of our opponent. Mijin dropped to the ground and slammed his hand into the ground and a wall six feet tall appeared behind the shinobi, while Ameno created water rope to hold the shinobi in place once he backed up enough to be attached to the wall.

"Good job," Mijin said standing up, "now run!"

The four of us took off, running as fast as we could and stay in a group. I could feel myself tiring, from the walk in the heat and the amount of chakra I used, I was running low.

Ameno handed me a portion of her ration bar, "Eat this."

I ate without even breaking stride. Incredibly thankful for the hard dirt path we were running on, we were able to make good time to the gates. There, standing at the entrance of the village was our teachers, Lord Kazekage, Lord Kankuro, Lady Temari and a small group of the council of elders.

"Faster," Koji puffed out, "He is broke free and is gaining on us."

"Shit!" I pull my backpack around to the front and rummage through it. I feel a small bit of shinobi wire. I pull that out and take my last two shuriken out and tie one to each end of the wire. "Mijin!" I yell, tossing one of the shuriken to him, "You throw left, I'll throw right?"

Mijin caught the shuriken and nodded, as one, we spun around and threw the shuriken at the shinobi who was only feet behind us. The plan was to throw the shuriken at his legs and the wire and shuriken would either wrap his legs up or at least trip him, however, neither Mijin or I stopped long enough to see if it worked, we just turned and continued sprinting to where the group of people stood.

Koji and Ameno were the first to cross into the small path that signified the entrance to the village. Mijin and I were behind them only a few seconds.

"Did we make it?" Koji asked, panting each word between huge gasps of air.

"Congratulations," our teacher replied, "You made it."

"Oh, thank kami," I gasped, my hands on my thighs and bent over looking at the ground.

A shadow fell across my face and I looked up to see Lord Kazekage was standing next to me, "Congratulations, you have passed your final test. Report to the Academy tomorrow at ten to get your assignments at then."

"Yes, Lord Kazekage," we say together. I am sure I am not the only one who is still out of breath, but at least I am not gasping anymore.

Koji grabs my arm and Mijin grabs Ameno's and we all straighten up.

"Who else made it?" Ameno asks.

"You will have to see tomorrow," our teacher said as he came over to hand us our brand-new forehead protector. "I'm very proud of the four of you," he continued in a lower voice.

"Thank you, sensei," we all replied, equally quiet.

"Here comes the next group," came a call from behind our teacher.

"Go," he shooed us, "Go and tell your families that you passed. Celebrate tonight, because the hard work starts tomorrow."

"Yes, sensei," we chorused and started to shuffle away.

Once we were on the other side of the passage Ameno threw her hands in the air and gave a shout of joy, "YES! We did it!"

We join her shouts and we jump around like idiots, we did it! All our hard work has finally been deemed worth it. We were officially shinobi of the Sand Village. Ameno and I jump up and down, very happy and there may have been small screams because we were just so excited!

"As much as I love this happy dance thing you girls are doing, I need to go and tell my parents that I passed," Koji's voice came over our celebration.

Ameno stops jumping, "That's right. I need to tell my parents and the hospital."

I grin, "Meet back up tomorrow before we learn our assignments?"

"Agreed," Mijin says as he starts moving towards the center of the village, where we will all have to split to head to our separate homes.

"How early?" Koji asks.

"What do you mean?" Mijin asks also.

"I have something for all of us for graduating, and I want to know how long I have to give it to you," came the reply.

I glance over to see Koji blushing a little, "I also have something for you all, so why not meet up when the Academy would normally start and that way we'll have a good hour before we need to be in the classroom."

"Sounds like a good plan," Ameno said, then with a wave, she took off down the road to her house.

Mijin and Koji took off next and I continued towards my parent's store. That would be where Father would be at this time of day.

Walking into the store, it is surprisingly empty, although it shouldn't be a surprise really. Father was alone at the counter, he looked up as I entered and smiled at me.

"How did it go?" he asked.

I hold up the hand with my new forehead protector, "I graduated! I am officially a Suna shinobi!"

I grin so wide my cheeks hurt when Father jumps over the counter and pulls me into a hug. He picks me up and swung me around in circles like he used to do when I was much smaller. "Congratulations, Tsukio! I never doubted you would make it. Suna is very lucky to have such a wonderful shinobi in its ranks."

Father lets me down and I do a little dance before I put the headband on and wrap it around my head, "How do I look?" I ask once I have knotted the headband in place.

Father steps back and smiles, "You look perfect. Although," he continues his smile melting into a mischievous smirk, "your mother will not be pleased that you ruined your shirt to make a head covering."

I smile sheepishly as I pull my makeshift head covering off, "I would have brought my scarf and robes, if we were given any warnings, as it was I turned in my test, walked into a different room and woke up in the middle of the desert."

Father gave me another hug, "I understand, I am just giving a small warning about your mother, you know how she is."

I nod, very aware of Mother's dislike of waste, dirt and all things considered not modest.

"Go and get a new shirt on before you go and pick up your brothers from school. I know they will love to hear that you graduated. I will tell your mother, to start planning your party."

I run over and give Father a hard hug, "Thank you, Father. You are the best!"

I sprint out of the store and down the road to get home and do as Father told me too. Not that I needed much prompting, because I couldn't wait to share the good news with my brothers, but I knew that I should clean up a little. Father's gentle reminder was enough of a reason to send me off in a sprint. A quick sponge bath to get the worst of the dirt off me and pulling a clean-ish shirt and I was back out of the house, with my shiny new forehead protector across my forehead off to pick up my brothers.

Standing just outside the fenced-in grounds of the civilian school was most definitely a different experience. Normally I was training or still at the Academy when the boys got out of school and so I only saw them at home. It was also strange to be in front of a school that I haven't seen or attended for about seven years.

I was able to spot Takashi's light brown spikey hair almost as soon as he walked out of the school doors. I watched as he positioned himself to be able to see the doors while he continued his conversation with his friends. Isamu's lighter brown, almost blonde hair was slightly more difficult to spot, if only because he was shorter than his classmates. However, there was no mistaking the shout of pure joy that proceeded a small body throwing itself through the crowd to wrap his arms around my waist.

"Tsukio! You came to pick us up?" Isamu shouted, his whole body vibrating with happiness.

I wrap my arms around him and squeezed hard, "Why else would I be waiting here?"

"Yay!" he shouted, "Can we get some dango on our way home?"

By this time, Takashi had arrived, and he was staring at my forehead, "You did it," a statement, not a question.

Isamu squinted as he looked up at me and if it was even possible he was even happier, "Yay Tsukio! You are a shinobi now!"

I smile and pat Takashi's hair, "I did, I am officially a shinobi now."

Takashi started to walk away, "Hurry up if you want some dango, Isamu. My treat."

Isamu let go of me and ran to catch up to Takashi, "Hurray! Dango!"

Laughing I followed my brothers as they headed to the nice little dango stand that is between the school and our house.

A little while later, we arrive at home, with no evidence of our dango expedition. Mother was in the kitchen making dinner.

"I hear congratulations are in order, Tsukio," she said, not looking up from the stove.

"Yes ma'am, I passed my graduation exam.

"Your father and I will have a small party for you tomorrow after you receive your assignment and your team."

"Yes, Mother," I say.

"I'm proud of you, Tsukio. Suna is lucky to have you as one of its shinobi. I know you will work hard to ensure that you bring honor to your family and to Suna."

I swallow the lump in my throat, "Yes, Mother. I will work very hard."

"Did your friends also pass?"

"They did."

"Wonderful, make sure to invite them over tomorrow also. The gifts you ordered are in your room."

"Thank you, Mother," I say as I give her a quick hug from behind and race up the stairs. The boys had walked over to the table to start their homework while we were talking. Sitting on my bed was a large box. Inside were two sealing scrolls for each of my friends. They were all empty, but the scrolls were prepared and ready for my friends to add whatever they would need for missions in it. I had a couple of places made specifically for food items. The scrolls took a while to prepare, especially since I didn't know what they would want to put in it, but the owner of the shop I bought them from, was very helpful. She even showed me how to create the seals necessary to put things into the scrolls. Who knew that these scrolls required special preparation, but I am convinced they will be worth it.

Taking the scrolls, each colored differently, and tying a string around the ones designed to go together, I added their names to the tag and set the scrolls gently into a bag that I will carry to the Academy tomorrow. Ameno has the red and gold scrolls, Mijin the green and silver scrolls while Koji has the blue and golden-brown seals.

Laying down on my bed, I stared out the window and slowly drifted off to sleep. I woke up to Takashi and Isamu whispering at the doorway of my room.

"Mother said to get her for dinner."

"But she is sleeping! The test must have been very hard for Tsukio to sleep in the middle of the day."

"Do you want to go and tell Mother that Tsukio is sleeping?"

"I'm awake boys," I say, slowly sitting up. I bite my lip to prevent my groan of pain as I force my very sore muscles to move. My whole body felt like I was in a fight, oh wait, I was. Never mind, my body feels exactly like it should. "Dinner is ready?" I ask.

My brothers nod.

"Let's go down and eat then," I say as I slowly swing my legs over the side of the bed and move towards the door. Moving slowly to let my muscles loosen up, I follow the boys down the stairs.

Dinner was a delicious chicken stir fry with fluffy rice and some cookies for dessert. I drank three glasses of water and had two cups of green tea which would help avoid a headache tomorrow. Much to my brother's enjoyment, I did describe the tests when asked about them, although I did gloss over the fact we were attacked and that I didn't drink nearly enough water and well, all the parts that are not the safest for my family to know about. While we are merchants and we travel the desert, therefore, used to the dangers of the desert, shinobis have a very special type of danger.

Mother insisted on taking care of the dinner dishes and pushed me out of the room with an order to "take a shower so you don't sleep with sand in your bed." Doing as Mother said, I took a shower, washing the sand out of my hair and off my body. After I was clean I wrapped my hair in a towel and slipped into an extra-large shirt and a pair of shorts and walked back downstairs where Father was telling more stories about his latest trip.

I sat in my spot and enjoyed the normalcy of this. Looking around I am struck again with the wonder that I am a shinobi. Which means you are now supposed to protect them, came the very sobering thought. It wasn't long after Father finished his story that Mother sent us all to bed. When I leaned over to give Mother a hug goodnight, she held onto me a fraction longer than normal but when I looked at her face when we broke apart, she was smiling, so I shrugged it off and went to bed. That night I fell asleep to the sound of my parents talking about my party to be held tomorrow.

 **AN: So sorry this took a whole week to upload :(But I hope this is worth it.**

 **Hurray! Tsukio did it, finally achieved her goal of being a shinobi. Now the fun begins *insert evil laugh* because as we all know, nothing goes well for brand new shinobi.**


	10. Apprenticeship and Teams

At nine o'clock the next morning I showed up at the Academy, where Ameno was waiting.

"How did your parents react?" I asked.

"About as well as could be expected, it is a good thing they know that I was accepted to the hospital, or Mom might have been more upset."

"I'm sorry, I thought you mom had dealt with her issues," I say, placing a hand on my friend's shoulder.

"She did, but now it is a reality. She is happy for me, she is just worried," Ameno replied with a small smile. "How about your parents?"

"Father is very excited for me, Mother is happy, but not too thrilled, I think she still held out hope that I would fail, and she could marry me off to an important person. The boys are the happiest for me. Oh! Before I forget, my parents are throwing a party for me tonight, your family is invited."

"Maybe I should have my mom talk to your mom and they can combine a party," Ameno muses.

"I am pretty sure I saw all of our mother's talking this morning at our shop when I left," Koji interrupted.

"That will make things much easier," I grin, seeing Mijin walking towards us, "You and your families are invited to my house for a "congratulations you have graduated" party tonight."

"Nice! Your parents throw nice parties," Mijin said.

"Let's go over and grab some tea," Ameno said, picking up a bag at her feet and we walked across the street.

We all quickly order our tea and sit down in one of the few outdoor tables, Koji puts the umbrella up, not because the sun is particularly hot this morning, but because the sun is just that bright. And some of us are still a little sun burned from our adventure yesterday.

The waitress brings out our tea and I pour the tea into our cups.

Mijin holds his cup up in the air and says, "To the newest genin of the Sand, may we bring honor to Sunakugure, to our families, and to our friends."

I hold my cup up and tap it against Mijin's "To us."

Ameno and Koji hold their cups up and together we toast, "To us."

The tea was hot, but not scolding as we took our first sip. Black tea in the morning was a wonderful thing to have.

Koji held out his hands, "Okay hand over my gifts."

Ameno stared at him, while I just laughed. "Always so impatient. Why don't we count to three and everyone puts their gifts on the table."

All of us had brought a bag and we set them on our lap, having done this type of thing before, usually around birthdays, we put each other's gifts onto the table in front of the recipient.

In front of me, was a medical kit that was small enough to fit inside any pack with ease (Ameno), a box full of various things needed for camping, like rope, a fire starter kit, a tarp, and a long length of bandage type material (Koji). The final gift was another kit full of wire, hydration pills, soldier pills and a small scroll (Mijin).

I held up my gift from Mijin and raised an eyebrow in question at him.

"It is called an emergency kit; my mom says that something like this has saved her life more often than not. It has everything you might need if you are separated from your team, your stuff or are kidnapped for some reason. The scroll has a locating jutsu inside it that is keyed to a pair of hawks my family has raised. If the seal is activated, the hawks will come to find you."

I reach over the table and pull Mijin into a hug, "Thank you, Mijin! I will never forget this." Ameno and Koji also fell into the impromptu group hug, we all knew the story of Mijin's father, how he was captured and how no one could find him, it has haunted Mijin's family and now they will do just about anything to avoid having someone else getting lost.

"I hope you never have to use it," Mijin replied.

"Me too," Ameno replied, she was the first to sit back down in her seat. Opening the scrolls, I gave to her, she frowned.

"They are sealing scrolls, designed for us to put our stuff in, so we have less to carry. For the most part, they are blank, but the woman I bought them from promised that if you bring the scrolls in, she will help you learn how to seal stuff in there, especially food stuff."

"Awesome!" Koji said, staring at the scrolls, "No more heavy backpacks!"

I smile at my friends, "I hope you all get lots of use out of those scrolls."

Koji blinks quickly, before glancing over at the Academy, "Lord Kazekage just arrived, we should head over to our classroom."

In agreement, the four of us stood up, put our gifts away and walked over to the Academy. We turned to the Academy and together we walked inside. We walked into our old classroom and found our teacher sitting at his desk with a pile of papers.

Glancing up as we walked in, "Good, you are here. The others should be along shortly. Just take a seat and we will start soon."

"How many passed, sensei?" Ameno asked as we walked over to our normal spots.

"Out of the class of twenty-seven, only eighteen passed," came the reply.

Only nine didn't pass the test, not bad results, especially since most of the time the passing rates are only about fifty percent and this time it was over sixty percent.

We were all quiet as the other fourteen showed up. To my frustration both Saya and Sana were part of those that passed, so I sent a quick prayer that I did not end up on their team, although a fully female team would be unusual. However, since there were more boys than girls in this class, the likelihood of a full male team was high.

Once we were all sitting down the teacher stood up, "Congratulations on passing your exams. Today some of you will get the official apprenticeship contract that you will need to sign today. The rest of you will receive your genin team assignments. However, that does not mean you will not be on a team it means, simply because of your apprenticeship, you will need to be placed with more experienced or specialized teams." Picking up the papers, he started to read, "For Medical Corps, Ameno."

I tuned him out for a little bit, not really caring where others went, I just wanted to know where I would be going. Those who didn't get apprenticed were sent to the genin corps, where they would be placed on a team and they would begin their training. It wasn't a bad thing to be in the genin corps, it was the backbone of the shinobi army, however, it did mean that you had no extra skills that could be useful. To be honest, most shinobi ended up in the genin corps, even for a short while. The one downside to being in the corps was that you didn't learn any specialized skills, such as medical ninjutsu or in Saya's case puppetry. But really, you either became an apprentice or you went into the genin corps, those were your only choices.

"Tsukio. Intelligence and Interrogation," the teacher read. I blinked, Intelligence and Interrogation were very specialized indeed and rarely did they take people from the Academy. I could feel the stares from my friends on my back as I stood up and walked to the front of the classroom to pick up my Apprenticeship contract.

"Read over your contracts, I will come by to pick up the signed contracts in a few minutes," the teacher said after he finished up his list.

I glance over, Mijin had been placed on a team with Sajin and Mujin, while Koji was offered an apprenticeship with the hunting and tracking corps. Mijin looked very pleased with his placement, while Koji looked confused.

After collecting our contracts, the teacher walked back to the front of the room, "If you were assigned a team, go sit with them and wait for your team leader, the rest of you wait for the head of your department or group comes to collect you. Congratulations once again and welcome to the Suna shinobi forces." With that, our teacher walked out of the classroom.

Mijin stood up and moved to where his other teammates were sitting. He glances at Ameno, who smiles, and I give him a small wave and mouth the word tonight to him. He nods and we all sit and wait.

The wait seems to take forever, but slowly adults start trickling in and taking away my former classmates. Thankfully I am one of the middle groups to be picked up and I follow the man wearing the standard Suna shinobi uniform of black pants, a black long-sleeved shirt, a brown vest, and a light tan head covering.

He leads me out of the Academy and walks towards the center of the village. "As a member of Intelligence, you will need to be able to utilize a number of skills that will be taught to you. So, forget everything you learned while at the Academy, you will be starting over fresh. I will oversee teaching you how to blend in, this could mean into a group of enemy shinobi or into enemy territory. For the most part, you will not be placed on a traditional team, you will be focusing on either gathering intelligence or learning to interrogate prisoners."

He stopped in front of a nondescript building that was built next to the cliffs that surround the village. He holds out his hand, "Give me your hand."

I stare at him for a moment before I slowly hold my hand out to him.

He takes it and places my hand on a small wooden panel next to the door, "Push chakra to your hand," he said.

I nod and do as he instructed me. I feel the wood beneath my hand warm, he then places his hand next to mine, on the same panel and the panel heats up more until it is burning hot. I started to take my hand away when his voice stops me.

"I am putting your chakra into the seal, so that you may enter this building. If the security seals do not recognize you, well if you were to open the door, you would find yourself in a very nasty trap."

"I understand," I responded when he looked at me waiting. It didn't take too long before he took my hand off the wooden panel, opened the door and walked in.

I followed quickly and walked into a surprisingly well-lit room. There was a desk manned by a very friendly looking shinobi. Behind the desk are two doors and a small hallway heading into the cliffs that surround the village which is also known as the plateau when viewed from outside the village.

The woman behind the desk grins as she sees us, "Hello, you must be Tsukio. Your team is waiting for you on the second floor. I will have your schedule ready for you when you are finished meeting them."

I nod, "Thank you, err," I pause not knowing this woman's name.

She smiles, "My position is Intel Desk Shinobi. I oversee missions for this branch, I also deal with schedules and I am also the liaison between Intelligence and Interrogation and the Kazekage and Elder Council. While I myself may not be here, one of the other Intel Desk Shinobi will be." She then waved towards the door on the right, "Head on upstairs, your teammates are waiting."

The man who brought me to this building was holding the door open. I walked inside, and he followed me into the room, which looked to be another office and then he walked around me to a hallway and then to a set of stairs that lead up. He walks up the stairs, down another hallway leading into the cliffs. The man opened a door and gestured for me to go in.

"This is your new teammate Tsukio, she just graduated from the Academy and was chosen specifically for this team by the head of this division. Remember that before you look down on her inexperience," he turns to me, "Introduce yourself, get to know your teammates. You will have one more test to see how you all work together, then you will be done. Good luck." With that, he pushed me into the room and walked away.

Stumbling a little, I right myself and look at the other occupants in the room. I see a young person with chestnut brown hair and a round cherub face, similar to Isaum's, he has brown eyes and is wearing the standard uniform of black pants and a black shirt. The other occupant is another boy, he had dark brown hair, almost black hair, it was long enough to pull back into a short ponytail, I couldn't see his eyes from this distance, but I am pretty sure they are dark.

I give them both a big smile and wave, "Hello, my name is Tsukio like the man just said. I had no idea that I was going to be apprenticed with Intelligence, so this is a big surprise." I stay near the door and wait, Father was always saying that people will fill the silence if you let them.

The cherub one gave me a single glance, "My name is Amagi, I have been at Intelligence for six months. This is the first time I have been placed on a team."

The dark-haired boy gave me a small smile, "And I'm Hideo, I am the oldest I think, I'm fourteen. I have been with Interrogation for six months and the Intelligence part for a year."

I smile, "Nice to meet you both."

Amagi looked over at Hideo, "So what are your specialties?"

"I specialize in mid-range fighting, primarily with my ninjutsu, my affinity is to fire," Hideo responded, "How about you?"

"I specialize in using weapons in conjunction with ninja wire, my affinity is to earth, however, I don't know many earth jutsus," Amagi looked over at me, this time looking me up and down, "And we know that the Academy graduate will not have a specialty yet."

Hideo's eyes widened at the blatant loathing of me in Amagi's voice. I made sure to smile wider, gauging Amagi's reaction when he saw my grin. His face hardened, his lips pressed together in a tight line and his nostrils flared, "Why are you smiling like that," he bit out.

I smile wider, "I have all the reason in the world to smile, I have graduated the Academy yesterday and today I have been apprenticed to the Intelligence and Interrogation Division of the Suna shinobi corps. Now I am on a team with two experienced genin, about to face my last test for the day."

Hideo nodded, "On that note, we should figure out how to deal with this test that they are going to give us."

"Any idea what type of test it will be?" I ask.

Hideo shrugged, "They have a wide variety of tests they can throw at us. I doubt it will be anything like they do for ANBU because you are a recent graduate."

"Is there anything off-limits?"

"Death, dismemberment, permanent disfigurement, or injuries that can't be healed," Amagi replied dryly.

I nod understandingly, "Okay, my chakra affinity is wind and I have very limited knowledge of other jutsus, but I am fairly good at thinking on my feet and making a plan. I am also good at reading people."

"How is reading people going to be any good?" Amagi sneered.

"Well it helps with learning a person's intentions, or reading their reactions," I look at Amagi, "for example, you are pretty upset that I am even here, and it is only the warning from the man who brought me here that is keeping you from lashing out at me." I hold up my hand to stop Amagi from saying anything, "I am not offended, I know I have to prove my worthiness of being here, I have always had to prove my ability to be a shinobi from the moment I entered the Academy. All I ask is that you don't write me off until I have actually done something to warrant it."

Hideo looked over at Amagi, "She isn't asking anything outside of your ability to give. Besides what is the first lesson we learn in Intel?"

Amagi stopped staring at me and turned his piercing gaze to Hideo, "To look underneath the underneath," he ground out through clenched teeth.

"So, give her a chance. Besides, this test is important for all of us, not just Tsukio. I want to continue to progress in my training and I can't do it until I make chūnin, and this is the easiest way for us to do it," Hideo reasoned.

"Fine!" Amagi spat out, "How do you want to do this?"

"Without knowing the type of test, I think it is best for us to just agree to move as slow as the situation allows. Amagi since you are good with weapons and Hideo you are a mid-range fighter, you two can figure out who should be first. I will provide as much backup as I can with my wind jutsus, I am also decent at taijutsu if needed," I offer.

Hideo nods, "That sounds like a good plan, I don't mind going first, fire tends to have people move out of the way when it is thrown at them."

"I can help make your fire more potent with wind if needed," I say to Hideo.

Amagi nods, "If people will be busy paying attention to the fireballs heading towards them, they will miss the weapons I throw at them."

I grin, "So we have a basic plan."

"What about genjutsu?" Hideo asks.

Amagi shrugs, "I can dispel a genjutsu if needed."

"I have only had a couple of experiences with genjutsu, the most recent was when they knocked us out for the survival test." I supply.

"Anything strange happens with the genjutsu?" Hideo asked.

"I have no idea, one minute I am walking into a room and the next I am waking up in the middle of the desert with my friends around me."

"Were you the first to wake up?" Amagi asks, suddenly looking interested in what I have to say.

"I was," I say, confused by his sudden interest.

"Interesting," Amagi said. "Did you wake your friends up or did you release them?"

"Why?" I ask.

"If you were able to fight off the genjutsu on your own, it would explain why they want you in this division," came the very unsatisfactory answer.

"How do you know that I wasn't released?"

"It has been my experience," Hideo interrupted, "that these types of genjutsus are designed to slowly wear off, so if you had to release your friends and not just wake them up naturally, then you might have some sort of resistance to genjutsu, one that could become very powerful if you can learn to use it."

"Huh," I think about what they tell me. Being a genjutsu specialist would have limited applications but could be very powerful if used correctly. We learned about that in the Academy. We also learned that because of the nature of genjutsu, it is difficult to use and so most shinobi only learn the very basics of genjutsu.

Before I could ask any other questions, an alarm goes off. Hideo looks, well alarmed by this and Amagi is frantically looking around.

"What is going on?" I ask, my eyes looking around for a clue of what is going on.

"Prisoner escaped," came Hideo's reply.

Just then the door next to me flew open and a man, dressed in blood-covered pants, without a shirt or forehead protector noticeable. He had cuts and bruises covering his upper body, his lips were split, and his jaw was starting to swell. He took one look around the room and started to charge at Hideo, who was standing between the man and the only window in the room.

Before I could blink, Amagi had his knives out and threw one at the man's back. I take off running towards the guy. Hideo's hands fly through the hand signals and takes a deep breath and launches a single fireball at the man. Following his example, my hands move through my hand signs to make a small jet of wind, directing it at the edges of the fireball, it quickly blooms up into a large fireball. The man jumps out of the way, only to be hit by a knife in his shoulder. It doesn't stop him, but I see another opening and I charge towards the man.

My hand flying, I hit him across his swollen jaw, it wasn't a very strong punch, but it was enough to stun the man long enough for Hideo and Amagi to join the fray. Amagi throws another knife at the man, this one wraps itself around the man, while Hideo breaths another fireball at the man, this time when the man tried to jump out of the way, he trips and falls because of the ninja wired knife. The man goes crashing towards the ground, I take my wind currents and direct them at the man, using the force of the wind to hold him down.

"Tie him up, Amagi, there should be some wire in my pack," Hideo said as he walked over and using the back of his knife, hit the man in the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

I stopped the air current to allow the boys freedom of movement to knock the man out and to tie him up. Just to be on the safe side, though I pulled out the first aid kit Ameno made and looked for the chloroform she helpfully provided. Ripping off a piece of my belt, I put a few drops on the cloth and held it over the man's mouth.

"There, that should keep him out for a while," I said, making sure to keep the chloroform away from my face, "Should we go and get someone to take care of him?"

Hideo nods, "I'll go, Amagi, you and Tsukio keep an eye on him. Kill him if you have too, but try not to, Interrogation might still need him to answer questions."

"Yes, sir," Amagi and I replied. Amagi took out another knife and held it, ready to throw it if needed. I stood between the man and the window, ready to use my wind jutsu to throw him back.

"Where did you get the chloroform?"

I look up from the prisoner for a minute to see Amagi not looking at me but staring purposely at the prisoner. "My friend Ameno was accepted into the medical corps, so as a graduation gift she gave us all a small first aid kit. The chloroform is because she knows I don't like needles, and it is another way to knock someone out if their injuries are bad enough to need stitches. Or at least make it so I don't care that someone is stitching me up."

Amagi begrudgingly smiled at me, "Well it came in handy today for sure."

I give him a smile and was thankfully saved from having to say anything else because the door opened, Hideo and the man who brought me here walked in. The first man looked around and nodded, "Well done," he said. "You passed."

I blink, what just happened?

Amagi frowned, "This was our test?"

Even Hideo looked confused, "An escaped prisoner was our test?"

I frown, "Deliberately letting a prisoner escape would be a good test to see how we could stop him, but only if we succeeded. If we failed there could be disastrous consequences," I wrinkle my nose as I think, "So there must be more people waiting outside in the event we failed. Or," I pause as a new idea came to me, "this man is not really a prisoner, but made to look like one. The wounds are superficial, and all new. Although that could be explained by him just being new, or fully healed before his latest session."

The first man smiled, it had a lot of teeth and combined with the decidedly predatory look in his eye, just came off as just plain creepy. "Very good, Tsukio, Lord Kankuro was right, you are very observant, therefore a good fit with our team."

Another group of people, in Jōnin uniforms came in the room and took the prisoner away in a flash of smoke.

"Thank you, Jōnin-san," I replied, still unsure of what happened. "Was he really an escaped prisoner?"

The man nodded, "He was, we have been keeping him in isolation just for this instance."

Amagi stared at the man, "You knew she would graduate today?"

The man gave another creepy smile, "Let's just say the graduation exams are not always as cut and dry as people think they are."

I try to wrap my brain around this new bit of information, but after a moment, I decided that this was something I didn't want to think about right now because I have a more important question to ask, "We passed this test?"

"You did."

"So, we are now a genin team?" I hold my breath waiting for the answer.

The man smiled, this time a much more pleasant smile, "You are. So, report to the Intel Desk shinobi and get your schedule. It will more than likely be training during the afternoon and regular D-rank missions during the morning and/or evening. However, as of today, the three of you are on a team, so you will need to work on your individual skills, and work on your teamwork. Your teamwork will bring you home alive from your missions. You were picked for this team because your talents complement each other." The man looked around at us and nodded, "Go get your schedules now."

"Yes sir," we all said as he turned around and walked out of the room. I walked over to pick up my bag, and followed Hideo out the door, down the hallway, down the stairs, through a room to the desk shinobi.

"Hello again, looks like you kids passed. Excellent! Now for the rest of the day, you will need to get to know each other a little more, I would suggest you three go for lunch or tea. Then you will need to be back here at seven o'clock in the morning to get your first mission. Along with your missions, you will be assigned a Jōnin instructor who will be the one who says if you have completed the mission and then will walk with you three to the missions' desk in Kage tower." She paused to look over a list in front of her, "Then depending on what the mission is, you will come back here for some individual training. Let's see, it will be learning your elemental ninjutsu, learning from the specialists of your specific strengths, for Amagi it will be chakra thread control and weapons, Hideo it will be rounding out your taijutsu and ninjutsu skills, for Tsukio it will be genjutsu and ninjutsu. Finally, you will be given lessons on Intelligence gathering, interrogation methods and other various skills you will need."

I started at the woman in shock, not sure I could understand what I was hearing. We were being told what our specializations would be. I was on a team! Chuunin, here I come!

"Oh, and one last thing, as far as anyone outside this division is concerned, you three are a normal genin team. You will not talk to anyone about being part of Intel and Interrogation, nor will you reveal what is said while you are here. You may talk between the three of you, but you will need to ensure that you are not being overheard, or that you are not giving specifics. This is a skill you need to learn now because it will help you in the future."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, still slightly shocked.

"Of course," Amagi said, while Hideo just nodded.

"Now go away, you three, I will see you here at seven, make sure you have a good breakfast." With that final bit of advice, the Intel Desk Shinobi turned away from us and started to work on some paperwork in front of her.

"Come on, you two, we can talk somewhere else," Hideo said as he turned to walk out the door.

"Don't forget about the chakra seal in the morning, Tsukio," the desk shinobi called out as I followed Hideo out the door.

"I won't," I called over my shoulder.

Once we were out in the hot sun, at this point it was just after noon and the shadows were very small. I glance around as I pull up my scarf to cover my head and smile, "We are near my parents' house, could I stop by and drop my bag off before we head out for lunch or tea?"

Amagi frowned, "Why would I want to get some food or tea with you?"

Hideo sighed, "Because the desk shinobi told us too. At this point, I am willing to bet that this too is a test."

Amagi sighed too, "Fine, let's go to your house and then tea. I can't be there all day though, I do have some training that I need to do."

I nod, "Of course this won't take all day." Then I took off at a slightly faster than a leisurely walk.

"So, you still live with your parents?" Hideo asked.

I nod, "I do and with my two younger brothers. My parents are civilians, so I doubt they will let me move out any time soon."

Hideo nodded, "At some point, you will need to move into the barracks and they will have no say in if you move out or not."

I smile, "I know that. I am sure my father knows that too, I figure it is just easier to let my mother feel like she has some control over my life," I pause for a second and grin over at Amagi, "I am, after all, her only daughter."

We walked in silence for a little while, then we turned onto my street, Amagi looked around, "I have never been over here, it looks nice."

"Thank you, most of the people here are shop keepers, like my family. A friend from the academy, his name is Koji, lives just down the road, his parents own the general goods store just down the street from Kage tower. They have some of the best leather bags in the village, along with some very pretty glass bottles. If you do go in, just tell the woman at the counter that Tsukio sent you and she will give you a good deal."

Hideo frowned, "You mean she wouldn't give me a good deal just because I am a shinobi?"

I shrug, "None of the shop keepers I know will deliberately steal your money, however, they also know that bargaining is part of the fun. So, by mentioning my name, you start off in a better bargaining position. That is all."

Amagi shrugged, "I don't usually go shopping on this side of the village, I stay closer to the shinobi shops."

I stop in front of my house, "I can understand that most people stay near where they work or live. There is nothing wrong with that." I wave my hand, "This is my house, you are both welcome to come inside, I know my parents would love to meet you." I turn and walk to the door. I pause and look at the boys behind me, after a glance between the two, they followed.

I open the door and toe my sandals off, "Mother," I call, "I'm home."

"In the living room, Tsukio," she called.

I waved my hand for the two boys to follow me, "I brought my team with me, Mother."

Mother turned from the table, covered with paper lanterns to look at me, or more specifically, the two boys behind me. I glanced over and saw both Hideo and Amagi look around the room that was currently covered in paper lanterns, streamer rolls, and candles.

"Mother and some of her friends are throwing a party to celebrate the graduation of their children from the academy," I explain.

Mother spoke up, "Of course, your new teammates are invited, Tsukio. You did invite them, didn't you?" I shook my head and she frowned hard at me, "Where are your manners, young lady?"

I hold my hands up in surrender, "I didn't have a chance to ask them, Mother. We just finished our final test and were told to go and get some tea to get to know each other a little more. I thought I would ask them then. I just stopped by to drop off the gifts Ameno, Koji, and Mijin gave me this morning."

Mother nodded, "Very well, I forgive your lapse in manners this time. But you should have stopped me from speaking if you already had a plan."

I just nod my head and walk over to the stairs, "You both are welcome to come with me while I put this in my room, or you can stay here. I will only be a moment."

It turns out the boys wanted to stay with me, I didn't say anything as we all walked up the stairs. I set my bag on my bed and quickly emptied out the gifts, setting the box of camping supplies on top of my wardrobe, the emergency kit on the edge of my dresser, well within easy reach, and the first aid kit on the shelf with the other small pouches I had collected and received. I put my backpack on the proper shelf and took off the scarf I had around my neck. I placed that one on its hook and pulled out my larger circular scarf and placed it around my neck.

"Is there someplace you wanted to go specifically?" I asked the two boys as I stood in the middle of my room.

Amagi shrugged.

Hideo frowned, "What types of tea houses are around here?"

"Did you want a full-on tea house? Or just someplace that has tea for us to drink?" I ask.

"What is the difference?" Amagi asked.

I shrug as we walked back through the house to the front door, put our sandals back on and walked out the door. "A tea house has the tea ceremony complete with a hostess, tea and food, while a place that serves tea can be anything, usually a restaurant that does serve tea, but also other foods that we may want."

Amagi stared at me, "There are tea houses in Suna?"

Hideo shook his head, "How do you know that stuff?"

I smile at the two boys, "Mother made sure that I know the answers to both those questions. You see, sometimes Father must meet with some business partners and they will meet up in a tea house, so I must know where they are. However, I don't always want to go to a tea house and go through the whole tea ceremony just to have a cup of tea with my friends. So, I have to know the difference and locations of both those types of establishments."

Amagi sneered at me, "Just a place that serves tea would be fine."

I nodded, "There is a small little restaurant that is out of the way, so only those who know about it go, but the tea is wonderful, and the food is delicious. The family that owns the store has owned it for generations. Most people only know of the small dango stand they have between the civilian school and the Academy, so it doesn't usually have a lot of people."

Hideo grins, "Sounds good to me."

I take them down a few streets to a small building with windows along the front, a quick glance inside the windows shows seven tables with bench seats. Only two of the tables had people sitting there. I walked in the doorway and waved to the girl behind the counter, before walking over to the table in the corner away from the window.

I sit down and slide over, Hideo and Amagi take the bench across the table from me. I smile as the girl places two menus in front of the boys, "Hi, Ren. How are you today?"

Ren grinned, "I'm doing good. Did you want your usual?"

I nod, "I would, my new teammates might need a moment to look over the menu."

"Okay," Ren smiles at the two boys, "Just let me know if there is something special you want. The menu is really just for show, we do take special requests often." Ren walked to the door leading to the back of the restaurant and disappeared to get the tea started. She walked out a few minutes later with a tea pot and three cups on a tray along with a small selection of sweets. "Here is some of Tsukio's favorite green tea and her favorite sweets. Did you want some more?"

"I would like some chicken gyoza, please," Hideo said after looking over the menu.

"I am good with the sweets," Amagi answered.

"Very good. I will be back with your gyoza and some more tea." Ren turned around and walked back to the door.

I watched as one of the tables set money on the table and walked out. Pouring some tea into each cup, I passed them around before taking a small sip, enjoying the mellow flavor of the young green tea with a mixture of white tea to make a very pleasing flavor.

"How did you want to do this?" Hideo asked.

"Do what?" Amagi replied.

"The whole 'get to know each other' thing we are supposed to do," Hideo said.

"I am not going to give my life story to a bunch of people I don't know!" Amagi said.

"Don't worry, I don't think that is what anyone is asking of us," I reply. "I think we are just supposed to do some small talk and get used to each other. We will be spending lots of time together doing D-rank missions and other training, so it would be a good idea for us to at least tolerate each other's presence."

Hideo nodded, "I agree, so let's see if we can get through a tea without one of us trying to kill another one of us."

Amagi nodded, "I still don't understand how this is supposed to help us get to chūnin."

Hideo shrugged, "I have no idea, but I do trust that the Jōnin wouldn't have us do this for no reason."

"Look at it this way, we are learning how to make small talk with strangers," I offer.

"What?" Amagi asked.

"Small talk, it is the polite talking that occurs during a party or other social gatherings. It is a conversation about unimportant topics or topics that are not controversial," I repeat Mother's words.

"Why do you need that?" Amagi asked again.

I was surprised when Hideo answered, "It is used during interrogations and interviews, to get the other person to open up to you. Once the other person starts talking it is easier to keep them talking. If they are comfortable with you, then they are more likely to slip up and reveal something they shouldn't."

"Really?" Amagi looked interested in the first time since we sat down.

Hideo nodded, "I think with Tsukio's background, she would have experience in small talk."

I shrug, "With Father's business associates, we host parties and gatherings often. Ever since I turned eleven, my parents have included me in some of the parties. Mother says it is to ensure that eligible bachelors, matchmakers, and parents can get to know me, or at least to recognize my name and face."

"So, you are good at this small talk?" Amagi asked.

"I wouldn't say that I am good at it, most of the time I just smile, and nod and people keep talking. If that fails, I talk about the weather or if they are from outside the village, I ask about fashion or food where they are from. It keeps them talking and it ensures that I don't have much talking to do."

Hideo nodded, "Those are all good topics to start with."

Amagi frowned, "And it works?"

I nod, "Most people want to hear themselves talk, so as long as you can find a topic they like, they will talk for a long time. Most men like to brag about their home or their family, especially with me, because they know that my parents will start looking for a marriage for me soon. If I am talking to another girl, fashion is the topic of choice." I shrug, "it depends mostly."

"What other topics do you talk about?" Hideo asked.

I think for a minute, "Did you want to engage in small talk now? Or should I just keep giving you ideas of what I talk about?"

"Let's see if this whole small talk thing really works," Amagi said, "Engage in small talk with me."

I look down at my cup of tea and paused to think about how to start. Thankfully Ren arrived with the gyoza and another pot of tea, which gave me another few moments to think.

Amagi took a sip of tea, I decided to start there, "How do you like the tea, Amagi?"

Amagi frowned, "It is okay."

"Have you tried the tea with a small bite of the anko dango? They are famous for their anko dango."

Amagi shook his head before he picked up one of the anko dango, took a sip of tea and a bite of the dango. "Not bad," he said.

I smiled, "That dango is my brother's favorite, so when we stop at the dango stand, we always get at least one skewer. Do you have a favorite dango?"

Amagi shrugged, "I like bocchan dango (three colored dango) when I stop to get some. I don't normally like sweets. If I am going to spend money on food, I will get tempura."

"Really?" I ask, "Is there a place you like to get tempura?"

Amagi nods, "There is a small stand across from the Kage tower that sells some good tempura, it is not the best that I have ever had, but it is good."

"You will have to show me the place, my friend Matsuri likes tempura, but we usually get yakitori when we are around the Kage tower. It would be a nice change of pace."

"Who is Matsuri?" Hideo asks.

"She is a friend of mine who has been a genin for longer a couple of years, I think she is about your age, Hideo. She was a student of Lord Kazekage, although I guess you can say she still is a student because she still gets some weapons training from him." I mused.

Hideo nodded, "I remember her, she was kidnapped right before graduation. Do you know where she is now?"

I shrug, "As far as I know, she is still out on a mission with her team."

Hideo nodded, "So do you know what her mission is?"

I frown at Hideo's question, "Nope," I say cheerfully. "I just know she is gone and will be back at some time. I had dinner with her and some of my other friends a bit ago to celebrate Ameno's acceptance into her medical apprenticeship."

Hideo nodded, "Ameno is another friend?"

I smile, "Yes, if you two come to the party my mother was talking about, you can meet her. In fact, you can meet all of my friends from the Academy if you want to. It would be a good way to work on small talk at least. The kids will outnumber the adults for sure and the adults will just leave us to our own devices," I grin widely at the thought, "Which basically means the younger kids will be running around like crazy and the older ones will be working on not getting brought into the game."

Hideo and Amagi looked at each other, then back at me.

Hideo asked, "Are you sure you want us there?"

I laugh, "If I didn't ask, Mother would know and I am sure that I would be in serious trouble, so yes, you are welcome to come if you want to. If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to come or if you come and become uncomfortable, then you can leave. Really, there will be lots of food and the adults will mostly stay inside the house while we all hang out in the yard. That is why Mother had all those paper lanterns around, to light up the whole yard. Since Koji's mom is involved, I am sure that it will be a number of yards involved. I doubt there will be fireworks though," I joke.

"I don't usually turn down the offer of free food," Hideo shrugs.

"Well I don't want to be the only one not there," Amagi says.

"Then it is settled, you both will come to my graduation party, eat the food that is being prepared and you will see my family. All good things," I say.

Amagi stands up, "What time is the party?"

"Around five is when it should start, the store will be closed by then, and the food will be ready," I answer.

Amagi nods, "Then I will see you both at five, I have some things I need to get done before then."

I smile at him, even as he frowns at me. Mentally I give a shrug, at least he hasn't tossed me aside.

"How much do I owe?" Hideo asked as he too stood up.

I wave my hand, "I will pick up this one, one of you can get the next one."

"Are you sure?" Hideo asked.

"I am, go and do what you need to do, I am going to go and help Mother get the party-ready."

 **AN: And the Academy is done! Now comes the hard part for poor Tsukio. But that is okay, I have lots planned for her. For a while, the chapters will be more like a diary, a little something from every day in the life of Tsukio. Which does mean, shorter chapters, and some long ones when there is lots to do. I hope you continue to enjoy this story and thank you for sticking with me through this. Until next time :)**


	11. Party Time!

After paying the bill from tea with my new teammates, I walked slowly home. A lot happened today, and sadly most of it I couldn't tell my friends or family. So, I needed to stick as closely to the truth, not reveal anything that I am not supposed to, all while answering all of the questions that will be posted to me tonight. Well, at least I will be able to tell anyone who asks that I am on a genin team and that my teammates are over there. Wherever "there" happens to be at the moment. Thankfully though, most of my friends will know not to ask too many questions, keeping to the basics.

Arriving home, I found a bustling center of activities.

"I'm back, Mother."

"Wonderful, you can come and help with hanging lanterns and lights," Mother called from the back of the house.

Keeping my shoes on, I walked through the house to the back yard where I found tables covered with beautiful table cloths, some dishes were already set out, a table covered with cups and Isamu standing at the bottom of a ladder, while Takashi was holding a rope covered in paper lanterns over his head.

"What do you need me to do, Mother?"

"Take this end," Mother instructed, holding out the rope she was holding, "And tie it to that wall over there," she pointed.

I nod and quickly go to do her bidding. Tying up the rope for the lanterns, turned out to be the first rope, I ended up helping to hang twelve ropes, all strung in a pattern that looked more like a spider's web than anything else I could think of, but the effect was wonderful. I then helped to set up some small tables that people could use to set their food on while they ate. I also set up some chairs for the older people to sit down and enjoy the party. After working for another hour, Mother told me to go and take a shower and get dressed in my pink kimono with the brown obi. Mother said she would come and help me with my hair, so I needed to be quick.

My shower didn't take long, and I quickly walked into my room and set out my pink kimono. This was a present when I turned twelve, Mother said it would be something I only wore for special parties or other special occasions. More than that, it was my first grown-up kimono. It was light pink with a dark pink along the edges and the lining of the kimono. It had long bell sleeves that stopped just past my fingers. It had sage green embroidery along the bottom half of the skirt, it depicted different leaves. The skirt had a gap that showed my leg up to my knee when I walked, also showing the dark pink lining. I slipped the kimono on and picked up the tan, brown and dark brown obi that went with this kimono and started to wrap it around my waist.

Mother came bustling in, "Here let me do that!" She took the ends of my obi and quickly finished wrapping it around me and tied it into a bow. "Come to my room so I have enough space to do your hair."

"Yes, Mother." I followed Mother to her room where she quickly put me in the chair in front of her mirror where she would get ready for events. Since I turned ten, I would sit on my parent's bed and watch as Mother would do her own hair and apply some makeup before going to one of Father's parties. Now, today I was going to be in the chair. Mother quickly parted my hair and pulled it back, then she started braiding my hair into four different braids before wrapping three around my head into a complicated bun while the fourth was wrapped around my head like a crown. Then Mother put a little color on my lips and eyes.

Stepping back, Mother looked at me a smiled, her eyes looking shiny, "You look so grown up, I am so proud of you, Tsukio."

I smile at her, my eyes watering up a little, but I know better than to let them fall. Mother doesn't speak like this, she doesn't get emotional like this, so when she does, it is very important. "Thank you, Mother. I will bring honor to our family and to Suna."

Mother smiled and blinked rapidly, "I know you will. Now go downstairs and try to keep your brothers from getting dirty before our guests arrive. If anyone comes before I come downstairs, you know what to do."

I nod and give her a grin, "Yes, Mother." I walk out of her room and down the stairs to see my brothers fidgeting on the couch.

"Tsukio! I'm bored!" Isamu called out when he saw me.

"I'm sorry you are bored; did you want to look at the backyard again?" I asked, already knowing the answer will be no.

"No," Isamu whined, "I have already seen it."

"Well we are not supposed to get dirty, so what would you like me to do to entertain you?"

Takashi stood up, wearing his more formal robes, not a full kimono-like what I am wearing, but the nicer robes more common to Suna, they were a dark blue with a white cowl that could easily be used to block the sun or sand if needed. "We could sit outside, wait for our guests and you can tell us all about your new team."

I smiled, Takashi, the born diplomat, "I can most definitely do that, did you want to sit in the front or the back?"

"The back," Takashi replied, "The sun will not be as harsh there, so Mother will not complain that we are ruining your party by being sweaty."

Isamu laughs as he takes my hand and Takashi's in his other hand and leads the two of us out to the back yard. I see some covered dishes have arrived and are sitting on the tables, it looks like my parents are having a friend make the food and keep warm. More of a cocktail party and not a formal dinner party. This should allow more people to move around between different groups. Sadly, this looked less like a graduation party and more like a business party, but I was not going to complain.

My brothers and I sat on a bench that was currently in the shadows. Takashi on one side and Isamu on the other side of me.

"I have two teammates, they are both boys. The older one's name is Hideo, I think he is about Matsuri's age, and the other is Amagi. I don't think Amgai likes me very much, but I'm not worried about it. It takes some people a little longer to like other people."

"What do they do?" Isamu asks.

"What do you mean? We are genin, so we will be doing D-rank missions, working on improving our teamwork and get to know each other, and when our Jōnin-sensei is around, he will teach us things we will need to know, like new jutsus. Pretty standard stuff, I'm told."

"Do they have elemental natures? Do they have a specialty?" Isamu asked, sounding exasperated by my lack of understanding.

"Yes, they do have elemental chakra natures, no I am not going to tell you what they are, simply because it doesn't matter. Hideo is very good at ninjutsu, while Amagi is good with weapons. I think it will be a good team."

"At least you have a team," A voice from the other side of the backyard wall, called out.

"Hi, Koji!" I call out, "Come on over."

Koji jumped over the wall and landed with a small thump on the ground. He was wearing his more formal robes, bluish-green in color with a dark blue pair of pants showing. He also had a cream-colored cowl around his neck.

Koji looked me up and down and gave a whistle, "Well look at you all grown up and stuff."

I laugh, "It is a special occasion, so I get to wear my special occasion dress," I inform him cheekily.

"Mom and Dad will be here in a little bit. Dad sent me over to see if you need any help with the setup or something."

Takashi sighed, "We have finished setting up, and are just waiting for people to show up."

Koji grinned, "Well it is a good thing I showed up when I did, or else you would be bored out of your mind."

I sighed, "We were entertaining ourselves just fine Koji." Before I could say anything else, I heard a knock on the front door, "I wonder if we should put a sign up to just have people come around to the back?"

Koji grinned, "I heard Dad talk about taking the wall down and letting the party just be everywhere."

I roll my eyes as I walk to the house, "The last time we did that was during a festival and it took forever to get the wall back up."

Koji laughed, "We could just have the food over here and have the people gathering in the front."

"Take it up with Mother," I call from inside the house. Opening the door, I find Ameno and her family standing there. Ameno is wearing a light blue yukata with lots of colorful flowers on it and a red obi around her waist. "Ameno, hello! Welcome to our home," I give a small bow, "Please go through the house to the back yard where we have some refreshments and places to sit. Please enjoy yourself." I point the way with a wave of my hand, Ameno stays with me, while her parents head to the back yard where I can hear Father's booming laughter.

"I am so glad to see you!" Ameno cried, giving me a huge hug.

"How was your first day as an official medical shinobi in training?" I asked, returning her hug.

"Tiring, now that I am officially a genin, I have to start training on chakra control, reading so many books and manuals on medicine, on top of my regular hospital duties. How about you? How is Intel?"

I shrug, "I don't know. I was placed on a genin team with some boys that are older than I am."

"Really? I wonder why you had to sign an apprenticeship contract then?"

I shrug, "Probably because I am going to be doing missions exclusively for Intel. Not sure though. No one is explaining anything to me."

There was another knock on the door when I opened it, I smiled, "Speaking of my genin team," I gesture to the back yard, "Welcome Hideo. Welcome, Amagi to our home. Please feel free to make your way to the backyard where we have refreshments waiting." I look over at Ameno who is staring at Amagi, "Ameno, these are the genin teammates I was telling you about, Hideo and Amagi," I turn to look at my teammates, "Boys, this is my friend who is training to be a medic, Ameno."

Ameno smiled at the two boys, "Pleased to meet you."

Hideo smiled, "The pleasure is all mine."

"Ameno? Could you show them to the back? Feel free to help yourself to any refreshments available. I am sure Father will be putting the sake and wine out soon, so for now, everything is nonalcoholic." I watch at Ameno walks towards the back yard, talking to Hideo while Amagi follows behind.

Thankfully, Mother comes downstairs and she takes over the duties of greeting people at the door. I make my way to the backyard to see that lots of people have shown up, probably coming through the back gates and the food is being warmed or cooled on the tables. Father is in deep conversation with some of our neighbors, while my friends are currently laughing at something Mijin was saying. Takashi and Isamu have found friends and are currently playing a quiet game with them, I am sure the quiet game will not last long.

Glancing around I see Amagi and Hideo standing in the shadow of the wall. I give Father a small wave when he glances at me and walked over to my teammates.

"Are you two hungry?" I ask once I get close.

Amagi shrugs, "I could eat."

Hideo just nods.

"Let me walk with you through the food tables," I wave a hand in the direction of the food. When the boys nodded, I turned and walked towards the tables. As I turned, I caught Ameno's eye and nodded towards the table, she nodded and took Koji and Mijin's arms and brought them over to the table. "Take as much or as little as you want, Amagi and Hideo. Feel free to skip any dish that doesn't appeal to you, no one will get their feelings hurt. Also, feel free to ask about any dishes that are unfamiliar to you. Mother likes to offer food that we eat when we are visiting other countries and cities." I picked up a plate and started to add some food to my plate.

Hideo and Amagi followed my example, skipping some foods and asking questions about others. Ameno, Koji, and Mijin were right behind them. After we filled our plates I moved to one of the slightly larger tables and set my plate on it. Once everyone was there I quickly made introductions.

"So, you are all in Intelligence huh?" Mijin asked.

I shrug, "Technically yes, but like I told Ameno, I am convinced they just wanted a dedicated genin team to do a bunch of cleanup."

Mijin groaned, "D-ranks. If you ask me, it is just a way to ensure Jōnin doesn't have to do anything between missions."

Koji grinned, "At least we will get to learn some more jutsus, and I heard there will be a chūnin exam once the windy season is over."

Hideo and Amagi perk up at the mention of the chūnin exams.

"Really?" I inquire.

"Well, that is what my sensei said, although he could just be wanting us to work really hard, so he doesn't have to continue to babysit me," Koji grumbled.

"You have one of those sensei's too?" Mijin asked.

"Yeah, you too?"

Mojin nodded, "Yes, but at least he is driven to ensure we succeed. He is going to train us to be a front-line team, so we can all get into the middle of stuff," Mijin rolled his eyes, "I'm convinced that he is just trying to get us killed."

Ameno pats Mijin's arm, "I doubt that is what he is trying to do after all Lord Kazekage himself picked the Jōnin sensei's for this graduating class. There must be something about your sensei that is good."

"He knows what he is doing, that is for sure. He has already told us that for every successful mission, he will teach us another skill that will ensure we don't die."

I laughed, "Well I would say that is a good trade."

Koji laughed with me, "If a merchant's daughter is calling it a good trade, it must be."

Father walked up behind me before we could continue our discussion and put his hand on my shoulder, "Tsukio, introduce me to your new teammates."

I nod, "Father, may I introduce my teammates, Hideo and Amagi." I point to each boy as I say his name, "Amagi, Hideo, this is my father, Masahi."

"A pleasure to meet my most precious daughter's teammates," Father said, in the booming voice that is uniquely his. "I know that we will see more of each other, so I won't force myself into your group, but if you need any help with merchants, or are looking for a fine bolt of cloth, feel free to come and ask me."

I look up at Father and smile. He returns my smile, gives my shoulder a quick squeeze and walks over to talk to yet another neighbor. I glance around and see how crowded it became, "Geeze, did they invite the whole neighborhood?" I asked.

Koji starts laughing again, "Well, since your mom and mine started this party, I am going to say yes. Which is why I am convinced the paper lanterns stretch all the way to the small park at the end of the road."

I nod, "Smart of our mothers to ensure the younger kids have a lit path to escape."

Mijin looks at our group, then to the gate where Takashi is currently trying to disappear out of. "I have to say, that isn't a completely bad idea. I mean," he gave a grin to the rest of us, "the younger children shouldn't be left unsupervised once it gets dark. It wouldn't be smart, especially since your neighborhood is all here. If one of the children gets hurt, there would be no one to hear them call for help."

Ameno grins, "Mijin, I like the way you think."

"Plan twenty-two for escaping a boring party?" Koji asks.

"I think that would work," I say then turning to Amagi and Hideo, "We are going to slip out of the gate behind you and walk to the park. You are welcome to come with us or you can take your leave if this is too uncomfortable for you. Mother and Father have seen you, which is what they wanted in the first place."

Amagi looks at his very empty plate and looks over at the table again, I hide my smile. "I think I will make a little bit of a scene at the food tables, that should give you all plenty of cover to escape."

Amagi spoke up for the first time, "I'll come with you."

I grinned at him, "Come along, I am sure between the two of us, we can make a distraction for everyone to leave. Hideo, if you decide to leave, I will see you tomorrow." I gave the group a small wave and proceeded to walk over towards the food table, but I made a quick stop to whisper into Isamu's ear that I was going to provide cover for their escape if he wanted to leave. Isamu gave me a tight hug and walked over to the gate and just waited.

By this time, the sun had set, and the light was quickly fading in Suna. The paper lanterns were giving a soft white light in the backyard. I could see the string heading towards to park and even a few strings of lights in other yards.

"You escape these things often?" Amagi asked.

I nod, "Often enough to have different escape plans in any case. Most of the time, these events are just an excuse for the adults to get together and visit. My parents spend the majority of their time working at the store, as do our neighbors, so they use this time to catch up on what is going on in each other's lives. The adults know that we escape, proven by the lights heading towards the park, but we still like to see if we can leave with as few people noticing. It has become a game for us."

Amagi nodded, "It will be interesting to see how this works and if it is applicable to other situations."

I tilt my head to look at him better, "What do you mean?"

Amagi frowned at me, "If these escapes work when you are at home, wouldn't they also work if we are trying to slip away to gather information while at a party?"

I blink, "I never thought of that."

Amagi just shrugged and started to put more food on his plate, "I was just thinking."

After filling my plate with some purposefully chosen food, I glanced at the table where my friends were and saw them deep in conversation. I turned to talk to Amagi when I tripped and I went tumbling to the ground, with my full plate of food in front of me. I managed to twist out of the way, to ensure I didn't get covered in food, but I did manage to land on the ground on my side. Amagi rushed over to me, "Tsukio are you okay?"

I smile up at him, as Mother and Father came rushing over asking, "Tsukio! What happened? Are you okay? Is there food on your kimono?"

I sat up and took Father's offered hand to stand up, "I think I tripped on the tablecloth," I pointed to the table cloth that was just a little longer than the others and was pooled on the ground, "I'm okay and no there isn't any food on my kimono," I gave Mother a smile as I said the last part. "But I think I am going to change into something a little more moveable so that I won't trip again."

"Good idea, just leave your kimono on your bed and I will look at in before I go to bed," Mother said.

Father gave me a hug, "Don't get into trouble while you are out."

I grin at Father and make my way to the house. To my surprise, Amagi is right behind me, "Not bad, everyone was able to make their escape while everyone was focused on you. Even a couple of the older teens were able to leave."

I smile, "I am just going to change out of this and I'll meet you right here and we can make our way out the front door."

"Won't your Mother be looking for you?"

"Not for a little bit, and by the time she remembers to look for me, it will be too late," I shrug. "Besides, Father knows where I'll be and will let Mother know if she gets worried."

"Alright," Amagi sat down at the kitchen table and proceeded to eat his food.

I ran upstairs and quickly pulled off my kimono and all the underclothes. I then threw on one of my nicer village robes, it is a dark brown, with a tan belt and tan stitching. I put on a tan cowl and slipped on my shinobi sandals and walked down the stairs to see Amagi still eating.

"I'm ready," I say at the bottom of the stairs.

Amagi finished his food and together we walked out the front door to the park.

 **AN: Happy New Year everyone! I hope you were able to celebrate and have a great start to the new year. This chapter is a little rushed because I told myself that I wanted to post a celebration of some sort for New Year, so here we are. Mainly because my other story got the Christmas celebration ;) I hope you all enjoy it.**


	12. D Rank Missions Intelligence Style

The next morning, I was up before the sun, I performed a couple of katas to ensure my muscles were warmed up, took a shower and got dressed in my normal clothes. I was downstairs making breakfast for myself before Mother, which I was happy with. I ate my food, packed a quick bento box for lunch and made sure there were plenty of extras to share, a smaller bento had enough snacks for three people and a canteen for my water. I then grabbed the scarf I brought downstairs, wrote a quick note telling Mother where I was, and I was out the door.

I ran all the way to the I and T building, I put my hand onto the wooden panel with a small seal on it and put some chakra into my hand. I could feel the security barrier pulse for a brief moment, then I opened the door and walked in. There was a different person at the desk, but I didn't worry too much about it, when he looked up from his work, he smiled.

"You must be the new genin, Tsukio. I'm another of the Intel Desk shinobi. I have your assignment right here, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Your teammates should be here in a moment." He handed me a scroll, "You can use the room over there to change, your mission will be given to you once your teammates arrive."

I supposed I look very confused, but he just smiles and offers me the scroll one more time. I take it and open it.

I read, "Tsukio, your first part of training will be to increase your chakra reserves. To that end you will be doing your mission today under a henge, just change your hair color for right now, it is a simple enough task. Pick a color that will help you to blend into Suna, you don't want to stand out this time. Keep up the henge until you have completed your mission, or until you are going to pass out, whichever happens first. Remember, your primary objective is to increase your reserves and control, not to pass out and fail a D-rank mission."

I look up from my scroll and see the Desk Shinobi still looking at me, I smile a little, just a small lifting of the corner of my lips, "You said there was a room I could use to change?"

He nodded and pointed to the room on the right, the same room I walked through yesterday.

"Thank you," I reply and walk straight into the room, not sure what is in there that can help me. I see a mirror that has been placed on the far end of the room, along with some pictures of people. Not sure if the pictures are for me, I studied them for a moment. If my blonde hair needed to be a different color, but a color that would still blend into the people of Suna, my options were to go lighter or darker. A dark blonde isn't unusual in Suna, but with the constant sun, neither is a light blonde. However both of my teammates have brown hair, maybe I should go for brown, be somewhere between the light brown and almost black. I concentrate and run my hands over my hair, creating a medium brown. I studied myself in the mirror, the color didn't look right on me, so I tried for a golden brown, but that was just a couple shade darker than my natural color and not different enough, at least not in my opinion. I tried a chestnut brown and decided that was going to be good enough, I unbraided my hair, and pulled it up into a high ponytail and braid the ends, and wrapped it around the base of the ponytail to make a high bun. Deciding that was enough changes to my hair, I tucked the scroll into my belt and walked back out into the front area. I guess you could call it a reception area.

Hideo was there, wearing different clothes than the typical shinobi uniform, he looked more like Mijin with the high collared sleeveless vest in brown and green with matching brown pants. He had a weapons pouch strapped to his right leg and brown sandals on. Hideo glanced over at me when I walked in, looked away quickly before returning to look at me, this time slower.

"Tsukio?" Hideo asked.

I smile, "Good morning Hideo! So you got extra instructions too?"

Hideo nodded, "I am supposed to look more like a fresh out of the Academy genin. You are supposed to change your hair?"

"I am supposed to increase my chakra reserves and to blend in better to Suna," I tell him. "What do you think?"

"I think the darker color is a good direction, although that color does stand out a little bit, with me and Amagi, it shouldn't be too noticeable."

I frowned, "Should I try a different color? I tried different browns but none of them looked right."

"No, I think you made a good choice, I was just saying, that particular color isn't too common in Suna, but brown is more common than blonde, so it works."

Amagi walked into the room from one of the other doors, he was wearing the same shinobi uniform, but he had face paint on, it was two green lines, one going across both eyes starting and ending at his temples, the second line going across his mouth. There was a small little line extending from his mouth to his chin, but I didn't count that one, because it was lost in the thick lines of the other two.

Amagi looked at me, then at Hideo, "So you two had to change your looks too?"

I nod, "I had to blend in better, what about you?"

Amagi shrugged, "I had to disguise my face, so instead of using a henge, I just put on face paint. I got the idea from your friend Koji, the face paint is so prominent, that most people don't look past it to his face."

Hideo nods, "That is a good plan, Amagi, and an effective one. But that will only work for people who don't know you well."

Amagi shrugged, "I know, but since most people don't know me, know that I am on a genin team doing D-ranks, it should be fine. What about you Hideo?"

"I am supposed to look like a fresh out of the Academy genin."

"I will say that it works, most genin don't put on the Suna uniform until they make chūnin," Amagi replied. "Now that we are all here, let's get our mission."

I nod and together the three of us walked up to the Desk Shinobi. He looked us up and down and nods, "Very good, here is your mission," he held out a red scroll, "you have until eleven to complete your mission to the client's satisfaction. When you are done, come back to me, I will be your Jōnin instructor for this mission, so I will need to walk with you to the missions desk. I will have someone check up on you periodically when you think you are finished, let the Jōnin know and he or she will talk to the client to see if your work is satisfactory. Any questions?"

Hideo, Amagi and I all shook our heads, the desk shinobi held out the scroll to Hideo, "Good, now go and do your mission."

Hideo took the scroll and walked out of the building, Amagi and I hot on his heels.

"What is our mission?" Amagi asked as Hideo opened the scroll.

Hideo sighed, "We are weeding the medical greenhouse."

I look at the two boys as they complained about the assignment. After a few minutes of listening to why they were too good for the mission I broke in, "How many D-rank missions do we need to complete before we can start doing C-rank or B-rank mission?"

"Twenty D-ranks before we can do C-ranks," Amagi answered.

"Then let's just do as many D-ranks as we can, we are talking about twenty days if we can get one D-rank done a day, less if we can take on more than one D-rank," I reasoned.

"Well, of course, you are not upset by this, I have been a genin for almost a year and I am doing D-ranks," Amagi complained.

I shrugged, "At least you are doing them as a genin team since you need to do at least thirty missions with a team to qualify for the chūnin exams."

Amagi gave a huge sigh, "Fine, just until I can make chūnin."

"Cheer up, Amagi, at least we get to work on our disguising abilities while we are doing this mission. So you need to make sure that you don't mess up your face paint. While Hideo gets to pretend to be less competent than he truly is."

Amagi sneered at me, "And you just get to play with your hair?"

I shake my head, "Nope, I get to try and not use all my chakra on keeping my hair brown, also to keep my hair brown while I am concentrating on other things."

"Do you have an out clause, if you reach chakra exhaustion?" Hideo asked.

"I do, if I am about to pass out due to chakra exhaustion, I am to drop the henge immediately."

Hideo nodded, "If you get close to that, just pull your scarf over your head, with your hairstyle you should be able to hide the fact your hair color just changed."

I smile, "That sounds like a good plan. Thank you, Hideo."

Hideo gave me a small smile, "We are supposed to practice disguising ourselves, as your teammate, it is my duty to help you succeed in your mission."

We walked into the greenhouse, showed our red scroll to the woman in charge, who sent us to a small area that was covered in green things. She pointed out which were the plants they want to keep, and which were the weeds we needed to pull. After watching us for a few minutes, she went back to her duties elsewhere.

After an hour of focusing on our task, I broke the silence around us, "Would anyone like a small water break?" Though it was early in the morning, the greenhouse was getting warm and humid. I already had small beads of sweat on my forehead. Glancing over I saw that my teammates were in a similar condition. I unscrewed the cap to my canteen and took a small sip of water.

"Sure," Hideo said, sitting up, "I could you a drink." Taking his canteen out, he took a drink as well.

"If everyone else is going to stop, I might as well, also," Amagi agreed, also taking his canteen out.

I opened up the small bento I brought with me, "I have a small snack if either of you is hungry," I grabbed one of the sets of chopsticks attached to the box lid and used them to pick up a small rice ball.

Amagi leaned over, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and took one of the shrimp gyoza. Hideo also picked up the chopsticks and picked up one of the meatballs. I set the box between the two boys, took another drink of water and then went back to weeding. I could feel my chakra already approaching about half of my reserves. One of the important lessons we learned at the Academy was to recognize just how much chakra we still had. The couple bites of food and water helped to combat the chakra loss, but it was just a couple drops in a small pool. Not enough to make a difference.

I just wanted to get this done as quickly as I could before I had to choose between completing the team mission or completing my personal mission. Amagi and Hideo also started to weed again. We staggered our water breaks so that there was always someone working in the plot. I was convinced that someone had purposefully not weeded this plot for weeks before we came here, how else could you explain why one plot too so long to weed! Moving on my knees to the next small area, I glanced over at Amagi who had just started his quick water break.

I swallowed my gasp when I saw that his face paint was messed up. I slowly stood up and moved closer to my teammate.

"Amagi, do you have more face paint on you?" I whisper.

"A little, why?"

"Your face paint is messed up," I take a sip of water, glancing around to find a shiny surface for Amagi to look at.

"Here," Hideo handed Amagi a small silver-colored shovel.

Amagi held the shovel up and cursed. "I don't have enough to fix all of this," he sighed.

"Do you have enough to fix the top line?" I asked.

"I should if I am careful. Why?"

Taking off my scarf I handed it to him, "You can use my scarf to cover the bottom half of your face, we can say that the pollen is starting to bother you, or something."

Amagi looked from the scarf in my hands, to my hair, "Are you sure?"

"I'm just under half, I will be fine." When both Amagi and Hideo didn't look convinced, I sighed, "I'm fine. We just need to finish this up sooner rather than later."

Amagi nodded, turned to face an unoccupied corner and using the shovel he fixes the face paint over his eyes, then wraps the scarf around his neck, pulling it up so that it would hide the bottom half of his face.

Meanwhile, Hideo and I started talking a little louder and basically making noise, on the off chance someone would look over at us. Once Amagi was finished, we all quickly continued to weed. We didn't take any more breaks, we would stop occasionally to get a sip of water, but we didn't stop. I would grab a small bite to eat along with my water when I had the chance, but I had decided that speed was what was going to get me through this mission.

Less than an hour later, we had completed the mission to the head gardener's satisfaction. I gave a huge sigh of relief when we walked out of the greenhouse and the humid air became the normally dry air of the desert.

"Quickly," Hideo said as we started walking through the streets, "Tsukio, are you going to make it?"

I nodded, "If we make it there fast enough."

"No running though," Amagi replied, as we sped up to a fast walk, "running will make us sweaty and my face paint will come off."

I nodded, really just too tired to say anything.

"Here," Amagi said, thrusting a dango stick in front of me, "eat this to get you some more energy."

I opened my mouth and start to eat them, Hideo gave me some warm water to wash it down with. I felt a tiny bit better, but nowhere near good enough to last much longer. I concentrated on keeping my chakra on keeping up the henge and keeping my feet moving forward. This was a lesson in trust on my part, that the boys wouldn't lead me the wrong way.

After what felt like hours, Hideo grabbed my hand and placed it against the wooden panel, I pushed a tiny amount of chakra into the seal and fell against the wall. Hideo and Amagi placed their hands on the wooden panel and after helping me up, the three of us walking into the building together.

The Desk Shinobi grinned at us, "Congratulations, you may clean yourself up and drop your henges."

With another sigh, I let the henge drop, the waxy coating feeling on my head dropped and I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders. Amagi handed me my scarf and walked back to the original room he walked out and closed the door. Hideo just stood there and watched the Desk Shinobi.

Once Amagi had come back out, the Desk Shinobi smiled, picked up our mission scroll that Hideo had handed over at some point, I think I must have closed my eyes.

"Come on little genin, time to turn in your mission. You will not get another one today, but after lunch, you three will need to come back and begin some basic infiltration training," the Desk Shinobi said while walking towards the door.

I took a deep breath and pulled my henge back on.

"No, Tsukio, you will go as you are, without the henge. You did good, but now is the time to rest your chakra," the Desk shinobi interrupted me.

I nodded and followed my team out of the building. The short walk to Kage tower was not interesting, at least not to me, I was too busy trying to keep my feet moving. I was so tired! I didn't feel this tired when we walked into Intel, so why was I so tired now? We walked into the Kage tower, I took a deep breath as the air cooled.

"Tsukio!" a voice called from the other side of the room.

I look up and grin, "Matsuri! You're back?" I was swept up into a hug. "Welcome back!"

"I'm so happy to be back," Matsuri grinned.

The Desk Shinobi cleared his throat, Matsuri and I moved apart and I looked at the floor, "Sorry Desk Shinobi-san," I say.

"We can talk tomorrow, after I sleep," Matsuri said with a blush on her cheeks, "Gaara-sensei ordered me to sleep for the rest of the day."

"Then you should sleep, Lord Kazekage is not someone you should disobey," I said with a laugh.

"Tomorrow then," Matsuri waved as she walked out the door.

I look over and see my teammates and my Jōnin leader for the day staring at me, I shrug, "A friend of mine."

"You have a lot of friends," Amagi said thoughtfully.

"Let's get this finished," the Desk Shinobi said, "Then you three can get some lunch and come back to learn about infiltration." Having said that, the Desk Shinobi lead the way up to the mission's desk. "Team Hideo turning in their D-rank mission," he said handing over the mission scroll.

The man at the mission's desk accepted the mission, made a few notes on the scroll, then picked up a couple of papers, made a note on it and handed them over to the Desk Shinobi. "Thank you for your service to the village. Was there anything else?"

"Not today," came the answer before the three of us were ushered away by the Desk Shinobi. Once we were out the door, he handed us each a piece of paper. On it was a mission number and another number, this one was our pay. I smiled, it was a nice figure. "Be back in one hour," was the last thing he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Okay, I want to do that," Amagi said watching the smoke dissipate.

"I brought enough lunch for everyone," I said, "If you want. It isn't much, just some leftovers from last night."

Amagi's face lit up, "I am not going to turn them down."

"Only if you have enough," Hideo said.

"There is plenty," I assure them. Pulling a scroll out, I took out the three bentos I packed. It took a long time to figure out how to seal food, but after one bite of my still warm bento, I decided it was worth it.

"How did you do this?" Hideo asked.

"I found a shopkeeper who sells scroll making supplies, after telling her what I was looking for, she was very helpful and created these scrolls and even showed me how to use them and make my own. I was learning from her for a month before I was able to put food in the scroll without it changing somehow."

"Do you think you could teach me?" Hideo asked.

"Maybe?" I ventured, "I am still technically learning, but I will give you as much as I know."

Amagi just ate his food without saying anything. I noticed that he finished his food very quickly.

"Here," I say to him, offering him the small bento that still had some food leftover from our morning snack.

Amagi stared at me, "If you are still hungry, eat it. It will just be thrown away when I get home anyway. Mother doesn't like to keep food that has been in a bento."

Amagi took the bento and ate the rest of the food in there. I continued to eat my lunch, I was feeling much better as I reached the end of my food, savoring the small pieces of fruit that I saved for last.

Our hour was up quickly, and I felt better, but still not great, but well enough to continue for the day. I quickly sealed the bentos back into the scroll and put the scroll on my belt and we all walked back to the Intel building.

We walked in, for the third time that day, "Go upstairs to the room where you were yesterday," came the Desk Shinobi's instructions. We followed them, which is how we found ourselves in the same room, minus the fire singed furniture. I sat in one of the armless chairs, Hideo sat in the same cushioned chair he was in before while Amagi chose to stand next to the window. We waited for our next set of instructions.

They came in the form of another scroll appearing on the only table in the room. Amagi grabbed it and read the contents out loud.

"You are now locked in this room, you must use the provided tools to pick the lock on the door to escape. You have twenty minutes to escape before sleeping gas is released from this scroll. Your time started as soon as you picked up the scroll. Once you exit the room, you can only use what you walked in with and what has been provided to you. Exit this room and make your way to the third floor, second door on the right. You have thirty minutes to complete this mission."

"Shit!" Hideo said in frustration. "Where are the tools mentioned?"

Amagi held out the scroll, a familiar circular seal was seen. I grabbed the scroll, put it on the table in front of us and pushed some of my chakra into the scroll, hoping that would work. When nothing happened, I sighed. I bit my thumb and smeared the blood across the seal and pushed with my chakra. This time a puff of smoke revealed a single set of tools, and two more circular seals appeared on the scroll.

"Looks like we will be doing the unsealing part of sealing scrolls first," Hideo said with a sigh.

"Bite your thumb, smear your blood across some of the ink, then push some of your chakra out of your thumb," I directed, picking up the set of tools. The longest piece was long and thin, while the other piece was also long and thin, but had a small hook piece on it. Hideo was able to unseal one of the seals and held up two more of the hook-like tools. After a few minutes, Amagi held up his tools.

"Anyone know how to pick a lock?" I asked.

Amagi held up a hand, "I do," he said.

I offered the tools to him, he just shook his head and walked over to the door. "The basic principle of picking a lock is simple. Each lock has a specific sequence at which the tumblers inside the lock will allow the lock to disengage. That is why keys have those bumps and ridges on them, to create the sequence. The sequence is important because it is the only way to get the lock to turn. So basically, you use the pick to push the tumblers up until you can turn the knob a bit before moving to the next tumbler."

Amagi knelt down, inserted the long thing tool, "First you put the tension wrench in the lock, then you use the picks to move the tumblers up. This part takes practice to figure out just how much pressure you need to use the different parts. Tsukio, come and feel how much pressure is on the tension wrench." I walked over and gave the wrench a small push with my finger, it bent a little, but not too much. "Hideo, you too."

After we both moved the wrench, Amagi put the pick into the lock and started to move it around. "Now, you know you got the correct height of the tumbler when the knob moves," he paused for a second and smiled, "Like this," he twisted the doorknob and we saw it twist just a small fraction, but enough for us to notice. A few more minutes, Amagi had to door opened.

I was about to sigh with relief, then I notice the pitch black of the hall. "Damn it!" Amagi exclaimed, "How in the hell are we supposed to find the third floor?"

Hideo replied, "Focus a small amount of chakra to your eyes, it will enhance your vision."

I did as instructed, the dark hallway became lit up like it was noon, so when I looked over at Hideo who was still in the well-lit room, I cried out in pain.

Hideo walked up behind me, "That was too much, try less chakra, about enough to fill a small spoon."

I tried again, this time the room became brighter, but not standing on the sun, type bright and looking down the dark hallway, I could see. It wasn't perfect, but I was able to make out individual doors and I could see the floor and the walls.

"Let's go," Amagi said. Apparently, he didn't have to try more than once to get the amount of chakra correct.

Slowly we made our way down the hall, we were about halfway down when a pop and hiss came from the room we were locked in. "Move faster," Amagi said.

We all began to move faster, looking for a stairway.

"Any idea where the stairs up are?" I asked the two how had been here longer than I have.

"It should be at the end of the hall," Hideo said.

A minute later, I held my arms out to my side, blocking the boys from moving.

"What is it?" Amagi demanded.

"We have been walking down this hall too long," I reply.

Hideo and Amagi both look up and down the hall.

"Tsukio is correct," Hideo said.

"Genjutsu?" Amagi asked.

As one, our hands moved through the two hand signs to release a genjutsu and whisper "release," and I felt the genjutsu break. like a balloon popping. Looking around, we were only two doors away from the first room we were locked in.

"Let's go!" Amagi said, taking off down the hallway in a jog, "Our time is almost up."

Hideo and I followed, finding the stairway, we ran up the stairs and stumbled onto the third floor.

"One, two," Amagi counted, "This is it."

Amagi opened the door and walked in, Hideo and I right behind him. To my dismay, Lord Kankuro was sitting at a desk in the middle of the room.

He smiled, "Nice job you three." Lord Kankuro waved a hand to the three chairs across from him, "Sit and let me tell you what you will be doing here in Intelligence and Interrogation."

We sat down, Amagi first, me then Hideo.

"Very good," Lord Kankuro said, folding his hands and placing his chin on them, "Now I am sure you are all wondering why I have a genin team in Intel and Interrogation. I am hoping to create a team that is so well in tune with each other than I can send them out on long term missions without having to worry about them or having to send out back up when they get in over their head. I want a team that can predict each other's moves, to the point that if they are put on separate teams, they could still be able to coordinate with each other with just a glance or a single word over the radio. In short, I want you three to be the next Sannin. Even now, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama, and Orochimaru-sama have difficulty fighting each other because they know how the other two will react, to a certain degree.

"In short, I want the three of you to become the best of friends and each other's worst enemy." Lord Kankuro paused for a minute, looking at each of us in the eye, "Do you have any questions so far?"

"I do," I ventured, "Does this mean we are training as a team, only to be split up?"

Kankuro nodded, "Eventually, but mainly you three will be a permanent team in the sense that you three will almost always be in the field together, even if it is just at the same time in the same area."

"The Sannin were a permanent team though," Amagi said, "At least before Orochimaru turned traitor."

"Maybe using the Sannin was not the best example, but the idea is still the same. A team of legends who can still be able to think like a team even when they are not a team."

I tried to wrap my brain around what Lord Kankuro wanted, first was a team that could predict each other's moves in a given situation. Impossible for all things, but achievable to a certain degree. Then to maintain that level of predictability even when they are not on a team, to be able to coordinate movements between multiple teams. Again, impossible, but achievable under certain circumstances. But one major problem with that.

"Sir?" I ask.

"Yes?"

"If we are to become predictable to each other, won't others also be able to predict what we do? Wouldn't that make us more of a liability and not an asset?"

"Normally being predictable is a liability, however, I am looking for the predictability that only comes with familiarity, for example, married couples can predict what the other would say when asked a certain question, or best friends can predict how the other will react in certain situations. This predictability only comes with a bone-deep understanding of someone."

I frown at this because really, I'm not sure I want to get to know my teammates that well. We learn about working together but working together and knowing them are two different things. Besides, this type of familiarity takes years to develop. I know Amagi is not going to wait for years to be promoted.

"Now I don't expect you to make the decision right now," Kankuro interrupted my thoughts, "I need you three to go and talk it over. However, if you choose not to try and become this team, I will reassign you, or put you back to where you were before this team was created. Before you go, let me tell you why I chose the three of you," He took a breath, "The three of you have different skills that complement the others. You three are also very smart. Fire, wind, and earth are very powerful elements that complement each other. You three are also relatively young, so you haven't formed bad habits learned from others that would influence your decision making. Mainly though, your personality evaluations have proven that the three of you are the most compatible with the type of team I have in mind."

"Can you tell us what the future would look like if we did become this team?" Hideo asked, "Mainly what are your goals? You keep saying predict each other's actions while on different teams."

"Yeah," Amagi replied, "why is that important?"

Kankuro smiled, the purple face paint making the smile creepy instead of happy, "For example, if there are three teams, you are the leader of one team, and all three are sent to round up and capture a group of bandits. The three of you could come up with a rough plan before you even arrive, then when you split up, one of you can make a decision based on your knowledge and the other two, given the same knowledge, will be able to come to the same conclusion and make the same actions. No radio required. Also, if in this example, something goes wrong, you can predict what the other two will do and based on your knowledge of them."

"So, you want us to become a team that can communicate without using radios?" Amagi asked.

"You want us to be the ultimate stealth team," Hideo concluded.

Lord Kankuro nodded, "Yes, to both. I think you three have the potential to be that. To go on long term undercover missions, where little to no secret communications can be given, where you must stay in character the whole time. As I said, the potential is there, you will just need to commit to this team."

It was official, my brain hurt, this was too much. First, I had to maintain a different hair color for half the day, then I had to escape a room with a ticking sleeping bomb, and now I was asked to weave the rest of my life with my teammates. I had just graduated from the Academy yesterday! I thought my hard decisions were over for a while!

"Can we discuss this with other people?" I asked, I really wanted to talk to Matsuri about this, she had been a shinobi for a couple of years now, she would know if this was even possible for me.

Kankuro stared into my eyes, "Who did you want to talk it over with?"

I swallow to wet my dry throat, is he offended that I want to talk to someone? "Matsuri, she has been an active shinobi for a while and can give me that perspective?" My statement came out as a question at the end. I hope no one noticed.

Kankuro nodded slowly, "You can talk to Matsuri, so long as the location is secure. Gaara's office would be the best place, but anywhere in Kage tower is acceptable."

"Not here?" I asked chewing on my bottom lip.

"Matsuri is not to know that you are part of Intel and Interrogation, also she isn't keyed to come to this building."

I nod, more lies or half-truths. But maybe she will understand, maybe she can figure it out.

"Can I tell her that you are the one proposing this idea?" Maybe if I give her enough bread crumbs she can figure it out.

"You will need to, in order to get into Gaara's office," Lord Kankuro smiled.

I nod, "Thank you, Lord Kankuro."

"Now go, you three, you did well on both your mission at the greenhouse and your missions from here. Practice the skills you were taught today, we will be building on them tomorrow. You have until the end of the week to make up your mind about the team. But know this, it must be a unanimous decision, so all three of you must decide. Dismissed."

The three of us stood up and walked out the door, down the stairs and out to the street.

"Did you want to think for a little bit, before we talk it over?" Hideo asked.

I nod.

"Hell yes I do," Amagi replied.

"We have to meet up here at seven again for another mission, we can take the rest of the day to think, and then we can talk tomorrow," Hideo declared.

I nod in agreement. "I'll see you two tomorrow then." I waved to the two of them as I walked towards Matsuri's room in the barracks. Hopefully, she wasn't as tired as she had been. But I really need to talk to my friend. And I don't have a lot of time.

Getting into the barracks isn't difficult, especially when you have your forehead protector on your head. I walked up the stairs and down the hall to knock on Matsuri's door. A minute or so later, a very rumpled Matsuri opened the door.

"Tsukio? I thought we were meeting tomorrow?"

"We were, but I met with Lord Kankuro and he told me some things that I wanted to be able to talk about with you. I am on a short time schedule, as I have to start acting on my decision tomorrow."

Matsuri frowned, "Sounds important, what is this decision?"

I open my mouth, but then remember Lord Kankuro's words, "We can't talk here, only in Kage tower, Lord Kazekage's office would be ideal," Matsuri opened her mouth, "Lord Kankuro's orders."

Matsuri closed her mouth and frowned, "Let me put on my boots and we can go the Gaara-sensei's office to see if we can use it, if not, then he can point us to an unused room."

"Lord Kankuro said we can blame him for interrupting Lord Kazekage's day," I offered with a smile.

"Did he really say that?" Matsuri asked.

"Well not in those words, but he did say that I could tell you and Lord Kazekage that he was the reason we need to speak there," I shrug, "The same thing I think."

Matsuri laughed as she linked her arm with mine, "Maybe we should stop and bring some food, that might help."

I swallow at the small tingle of fear her words gave me, "Do you think we will get in trouble?"

Matsuri waved her hand as if to wave the words away, "Not at all, if anyone is going to get in trouble it is Lord Kankuro. I was just thinking food might be good for us and for Gaara-sensei. Besides, aren't you the one who is always telling me that I should bring a gift when I visit people?"

I smile at her words, "That is true, but that normally happens the first time you are invited to someone's house."

"Well this isn't the first time, but I am sure that food is needed, at least for me."

"I could use something to eat, it feels like ages since I had lunch."

"So how was your first day, tell me all about it!" Matsuri insisted while we walked over to the dango stand and waited in line.

"Well we had to weed a plot in the medical greenhouse, which wasn't awful, but it was hot and sweaty. I also had to work on my chakra reserves, so I am feeling pretty tired. Then for training, I got to teach my teammates about seals while learning about lock picking and using chakra to enhance one of my senses."

"Lock picking? That is a strange skill to learn on your first day. Most teams start with things like chakra control or getting in shape."

I sighed, "I am sure the getting in shape will happen soon enough, today I think was a lesson in how we each have something we can teach or learn from the others on the team. We are not a team straight from the Academy and have learned about each other. I am the youngest on the team, it almost feels like we are a team of extras."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I am the only one who just graduated, the rest of the team has been apprenticed for at least six months," I explained.

"It could just be that those two are ready for the chūnin exams and they needed a third person."

"Then why me? Why not someone who has more experience, like you?"

"Other than the fact that I am already on a team?"

I blush, "Well other than that."

"It could be that other people were already on teams, it could also be that no one else was a good fit for the team. It could be any number of reasons, just be excited that those who created the teams thought you are good enough, as an Academy graduate, to be teamed up with your teammates."

"I guess," I sigh. "I am not looking forward to exercises, I am afraid they are going to start tomorrow."

Matsuri laughed, "I can hear a subject change. Why are you afraid of exercise? You normally like training."

Our conversation paused while we placed our orders, I got three sticks of three colored dango, while Matsuri got some of the sweeter dangos available. "Do you have any moochi?" I asked.

When the person at the counter nodded, I added a double order of moochi, when Matsuri stared at me I shrugged, "I thought maybe Lord Kazekage and his siblings might like a cold treat, besides I have been craving ice cream for a while."

Matsuri laughed, "I am not too thrilled by the idea of any more cold, but you have fun. Especially after spending the morning in the greenhouse."

After collecting our dangos, Matsuri and I walked into the Kage tower and made our way up to the top floor.

"Is Gaara-sensei in a meeting?" Matsuri asked the person at the desk.

"Not right now, he asked not to be disturbed so he can work on his paperwork," the receptionist answered.

"Good," Matsuri knocked on the door once before walking straight in. "Hello Gaara-sensei, I brought you some dango. Tsukio brought you some moochi, which you can share, or not, with Lady Temari and Lord Kankuro."

"Matsuri," Gaara said, staring at us, "You are supposed to be sleeping."

"Not my fault, I am blaming your brother," Matsuri said as she placed Gaara's dango on the desk. "Besides, I was not able to sleep, there is too much light at the moment and the barracks are not very quiet right now."

"What did my brother do now?"

Matsuri looked at me and made a 'your turn' gesture.

I give a small smile, "You see, Lord Kankuro has told my team what his plans are for our future. I asked him if I could discuss this with Matsuri because she has more experience as a shinobi and being on a team. Lord Kankuro said that I could talk it over with Matsui, so long as we were in your office or someplace within the Kage tower."

Gaara stared at me as I finished talking. He stayed quiet for a moment, before he nodded to a small table on the opposite side of the room, "Talk over there, try not to be too loud." Having finished what he wanted to say, Gaara went back to his paperwork.

I place the moochi I brought for Gaara and his siblings on his desk, "Thank you Lord Kazekage," I said quietly before I walked to the table he indicated.

"So, tell me what is going on?" Matsuri asked as we pulled our own dango to eat.

"Basically, Lord Kankuro wants to have our team be something more than just a simple genin team. He wants us to learn about each other and learn to not only predict but to anticipate the other's reactions in situations."

Matsuri's mouth hung open, "He wants you to what?" her voice incredulous.

I nod, "I know it is a lot. I have no idea if it is going to work, I just know that if I say no, then the whole team is going to be dissolved." I said my distress is on full display. "I know that it will take a very long time, I know that none of this matters if even one of my teammates says no to this idea."

Matsuri frowned, "So Lord Kankuro basically asked you to commit to two people you just met for basically the rest of your life? Like a marriage?"

A snort came from across the room. I look over to Lord Kazekage, he is still looking down at the desk in front of him, but I am convinced that I did hear a laugh from across the room.

"He did use an example of a married couple answering questions for each other, or best friends who can predict how each other will react to the news," I offered.

"So, what do you need from me?"

"This is a huge commitment that I am being asked to make, at the beginning of my shinobi career when I literally have no idea what it means to be a shinobi. Can you tell me what it is like? What I might be able to expect, especially in terms of missions and just life."

"Well, for the most part, it is a lot like you have heard. You train, you go on missions. Missions are all different, for now, you will be mostly inside the village walls. You learn about each other. One thing that will be the same, is that you will learn about and how to work with your teammates. It is important for you to be able to do that, so that missions run smoothly. Even if you hate the person, acting as a professional shinobi is enough to make sure the mission runs smoothly.

"So, I don't see a huge difference in what you are expected to do, and what would happen naturally when working on a team."

"Other than the depth of the knowledge that is being asked of her team to have and the commitment to the team," a matter-of-fact voice from behind me said.

I snap my head towards the voice and barely miss stabbing myself in the face with my dango stick. "Lord Kazekage!" When did he move? How can he move so quietly? I glance at Matsuri, who also looked a little surprised. "I'm sorry, are we disturbing you?"

Gaara just shrugged, "You are not disturbing me, I just couldn't help overhearing your dilemma. If you would take my advice," Here he paused, staring at me, "Instead of looking at how this is impossible, look at the benefits to those you call your precious people. I have found that when making difficult choices, that perspective makes the decision easier."

How this will benefit my family, my friends. Well, that should be easy, maybe?

"How will this benefit my family and friends?" I ask.

"If you can achieve this goal, then people will fear Suna and make it safer for your family," Matsuri said thoughtfully. "It might make trade routes safer for your father and your brothers when they travel. Especially if they hire Suna shinobi to guard their caravan."

"Do you think so?" I asked, hopefully. If I could save my Mother from having to worry about her boys, or about Father when he is out, then it would be worth it. If I could prevent Father from being killed like Uncle Isamu, then wouldn't the work be worth it?

"It is possible," Matsuri said, slowly. "You have to ask yourself if the time commitment is worth that possibility."

I frown at her, "Of course it is! I am willing to do anything to keep my brothers safe."

Matsuri put her hand on mine and gave it a squeeze, "Then that is your answer. Now you just have to convince your teammates that it is worth it. Because I will tell you right now, you will be the odd man out, you will be called upon to be the peacemaker between the two boys more often than you want to. They will ask you to choose sides, and you will have to figure out how to not upset the other one when you choose his opponent. This is not going to be an easy path."

"So long as she keeps the goal in mind, the pain will be worth it," came another voice, this time from the door next to us.

I look over, Lady Temari and Lord Kankuro were standing in the doorway. Lord Kankuro was the one who spoke, and he was grinning madly. For a moment, I questioned my resolve because I am sure that look meant nothing but pain and suffering for me.

"Tsukio, I think it is time for you and Matsuri to go, you have made your decision," Lord Kankuro said, "Go home, give your brothers a hug, tell your family you love them. Eat a large dinner and get at least seven hours of sleep. You will need to for tomorrow."

I stand, "Yes, Lord Kankuro."

Kankuro laughs, "Maa, enough of that Lord Kankuro stuff, I'm just plain Kankuro-sensei or taichou if you have to call me something."

"Yes, Kankuro-taichou," I bow at the two siblings and then bowed again at Lord Kazekage who managed to go back to his desk without me noticing him moving, again!

As Matsuri and I walked out of the room, making sure to pick up our dango sticks and the boxes with our remaining dango. Once on the street below, I turned to my friend, "Did you want to come over for dinner? We have plenty of leftovers from yesterday, I am sure Mother wouldn't mind making you a box to take with you."

"Sure, that way I don't have to go shopping for food until tomorrow," Matsuri smiled.

Together we walked to my house. At home I gave my brothers a longer hug than normal, Mother fussed over me, I guess I looked like I had a rough day. When Father came home, I gave him a hug. We had a lively dinner, with Matsuri and Father trading tales of land covered in snow all the time. I went to bed early, got the instructed seven hours of sleep. Turns out, I should have gotten more.

 **AN: Let the games begin! Do you think that Tsukio and her team could become a team to be feared? Any ideas thoughts as to how they will train?**


	13. Committing to My Team

I woke up the next day and I was still tired. I got a quick breakfast, made a small snack and grabbed the bento Mother made for me last night. I walked out of the house and to the Intel building. The food helped, but I was still tired, however I am convinced that I will feel better once I get moving. I got to the Intel building with five minutes to spare.

"Good morning," I call to the Desk Shinobi, who returns my good morning.

"You are going to be training for a little while before you head to your mission. Wait here for the rest of you team and you will go down to our training grounds together."

I nod and waited for Hideo to show up. Amagi was already in the room and standing against a wall. When Hideo walked through the main door, Lord Kankuro walked into the room from the hallway behind the Desk shinobi's desk.

"Come with me, you three," he said, before turning around and walking back into the hallway. The three of us quickly followed. I made sure my scrolls were securely in my belt as I followed. Kankuro lead us down the hall, it was lit only by light bulbs every three feet or so. We were going further into the plateau's cliffs. After a little while, we started passing different doors, some with numbers on them, most with a single word on them. Then the hallway stopped, and a large door was in front, Kankuro opened the door and we walked out. Only to find ourselves in a training ground, outside the village. It looked to be in an isolated area, not quite out in the open, it had large rocks outside the barrier and the cliffs were right behind us creating another barrier.

"This training ground is strictly for our use. It will be where you learn taijutsu, ninjustsu and genjutsu. It is also where you will learn battle strategies and teamwork. You three will learn to hate this place." Kankuro gave us a small smile, but could it be called a smile when he looked positively evil doing it? "For now, I want you three to warm up, ten laps around the outside of the village, this is not a race, but an endurance test. Let's go." With that sentence, Kankuro took off at a jog. I glanced at my teammates and we took off after him. We were able to keep pace with him for the first few laps, then he started to push faster. It wasn't long before we started to fall behind, but we were able to keep Kankuro in sight the entire time.

By lap nine, my legs were moving only because I forced them too. I pushed chakra to support my muscles and pushed myself forward, one foot in front of the other.

Breath.

In. Step.

Out. Step.

In. Step.

Out. Step.

I couldn't glance to my left or right to see how Hideo or Amagi were doing. I could hear their ragged breathing. I could hear their feet hitting the sand in time with their breathing.

I am falling behind. Must push more chakra into my feel to push off with.

This shouldn't be a problem, I could run twelve laps around the village before I could graduate, why was this so hard? When my foot slipped, my brain supplied the answer. I was running on loose sand, not solid dirt. I was using lots of chakra just to keep myself from slipping and falling as I ran across the sand. If I could, I would have groaned, more chakra exercises.

When we finished out last lap at the training ground again, I collapsed on the packed dirt. Sucking in breath after breath.

"Very good," Kankuro said, barely out of breath, but covered in a sheen, from the sun. "Do a little stretching and start your katas. I want you three to do them in sync with each other. Stick to the ones you learned in the Academy. One through five, I think for now. Then we will have a spar."

I sat up and started to stretch as ordered. I did know that if I don't stretch after this run, I was not going to be able to do any of the katas, much less spar. After a few minutes of stretching on the ground, I stood up and started some standing stretches, going through some dynamic stretches, to get the muscles used to a slower movement.

I glanced at Hideo who was moving around, then to Amagi, he was also moving.

"Katas?" I asked. When the boys nodded, I moved to stand a little apart from them, but made sure that I could see both Amagi and Hideo with a glance and took up the first position. Kankuro was standing over to the side watching us. As one, we began the first kata. This was an easy one for us to stay in sync with each other, we didn't have to turn around or do much other than move in a single line. The second kata was a little more difficult because it has more movement and more turns. Hideo solved the problem with staying in sync by calling out the movements.

A glance over towards where Lord Kankuro showed him standing in front of a large scroll. Since he wasn't stopping us, I just shrugged and continued to follow Hideo's calls. When we finished with the fifth kata, I was feeling better, I was sweating now, but after the last kata, I took a couple drinks of water. I had taken my forehead protector off my head and tied it to my belt because it kept slipping down in front of my face. I might have to put it on, then braid my hair around it to help it stay up. But for now, around my belt was a good place to keep it for now.

"Good, now you are going to spar," Kankuro said once we finished our water, "Your opponent is me."

With that particular bombshell, he summoned Crow and Black Ant. "You three will work together and try and last for thirty minutes. How you decided to do that is up to you. You have five minutes to create a strategy." With that he moved to the far side of the training ground.

I look at Hideo and shrug, "So do you have a plan we can use?"

Hideo frowned, "There is no way we could take him out, Lord Kankuro is a Jōnin and we are still just genin. Our best chance is to keep him off balanced."

Amagi frowned, "How are we to do that?"

"I don't know," Hideo said. "Do you have any ideas Amagi?"

Amagi looked from Hideo to me and back. "We could just keep throwing stuff at him and get in close. Lord Kankuro is a puppet master, which means he is a long-range fighter. We all can use mid-range and close combat."

"How do you propose we do that?" Hideo asked.

"We could do the fire, wind and weapon thing again," I offered. "While he is busy getting the puppet between us and him, or busy moving the puppet out of the way, we could move in."

"If that doesn't work, we could always fight him by ourselves for five-minute intervals, until the thirty minutes is up," Hideo offered.

I nod, "If we do that strategy, for the first fifteen minutes, then maybe we can fool Lord Kankuro into thinking that the last fifteen minutes is going to be the same. Then we can do the fire, wind, weapon thing to get close to him."

"Who is going to go first?" Amgai asked.

"I think Amagi should last, with Hideo first and me between you two," I say, before they ask why I answered, "That way when we start fire, wind, weapons part, you can be backing out so when Hideo throws his fireball, I will use my wind, all of which should provide extra cover for your weapons."

Amagi nodded, "Let's do this. Five minutes from the time he calls for us to begin."

We all stood in a line facing Lord Kankuro, waiting for him to call for us to begin.

The Black Ant clacked to life, rising up from the ground and Kankuro called "Begin."

Hideo took off at a sprint, moving his hands through the sequence needed for his fireball jutsu. Kankuro moved Black Ant and proceeded to attack, launching a bunch of senbons at Hideo, who jumped and tried to dodge them. This continued with Hideo trying to get close, and Black Ant keeping him at bay.

Five minutes flew by and it was my turn. I tried to jump between Black Ant and Kankuro. Well I should say, I jumped between Black Ant and Kankuro only to have Black Ant wrap his arms around me and yanked me to the ground. Focusing, I performed a substitution jutsu and substituted myself with a chunk of rock nearby. I moved around the other side of Kankuro and moved towards his back. After hitting him with a small wind jutsu, I had to start dodging as Black Ant started throwing things at me. Using some wind to throw the senbon away from me, I landed hard. I was running out of chakra and I would need to conserve it, because we still have a whole fifteen minutes after my turn is finished.

Keeping an eye on Blank Ant, trying to see Kankuro's fingers all while trying to dodge what he threw at me, proved to be too much. But I did figure out that Lord Kankuro has eyes on the back of his head. That really is the only explanation that I was willing to entertain as I was once again pulled away from Kankuro by Black Ant and forced to use the substitution jutsu again.

Thankfully, Amagi threw a number of daggers in Kankuro's direction, my signal that my five minutes were up.

I moved back to where Hideo was standing, "Have you figured out his finger movements yet?" I asked, breathing heavily.

"Not yet, have you?"

"Not all of them, they seem to change every time his chakra threads are separated from the Black Ant."

"Which means learning his movements will be much more difficult."

"Yep, but at least we have fifteen minutes left."

"Do you still have ninja wire in your pack?"

I nod.

"Good, you should prepare some shuriken with the wire to manipulate where they go. That way you won't have too during the fight."

"Right," I say and quickly follow his directions.

"Three minutes," he whispered.

I nod again, concentrating on the task at hand, and not the hundreds of ways this will fail.

"Can you make sure Amagi has plenty of kunai and other daggers once we get started."

"Yes," I say, taking a deep breath.

"One minute."

I start to focus my chakra, I can't start the hand signs yet, or else Kankuro will be tipped off to our plan. I focus on the spar in front of me and see that the whole training grounds is littered with various weapons. "Watch your step," I whisper to Hideo.

Hideo nods.

With a deep breath, Hideo throws himself into the spar, he uses the kunai on the ground to try and make Kankuro move, before he is able to move Black Ant to intercept him.

I whisper, "Do you have enough weapons?"

Amagi nods.

Then I see the first sign for a fireball. I had already angled my body so hopefully Kankuro can't see my hands and I hold the last hand sign, waiting for the fireball. When it erupts from Hideo's mouth, I quickly use my hands to direct the air current to whip around the fireball, providing lots and lots of extra air to make the fire hotter. The fireball grew, I focused on using the air to move the fireball just a little to the left, just enough that it was between us and Kankuro. Amagi pulled out two long handled daggers and threw them, while Hideo created four more fireballs, two that covered the daggers and two that were flying free. I cut the wind to the first fireball and added some wind to the four new fireballs.

I watched Kankuro's hands, a finger twitched, and Black Ant flew out of the way and then, right before the first fireball hit him, Kankuro moved. Right into the path of one of the fireball daggers and one of the other fireballs. Before Kankuro could move again, Black Ant flew between the two.

Thump!

The dagger hit!

Oh no! I thought as the fireball hits Black Ant and I wait to see if it is going to go up in flames. The end of my shinobi career is right in front of me, it is when my genin team blows up Lord Kankuro's puppet.

Black Ant didn't go up in flames.

Instead I hit the ground, along with Amagi and Hideo as Black Ant exploded into many pieces. Then those pieces started moving!

Yep, instead of a fiery death, Black Ant was now multiple pieces of sharp pointy things that was going to kill us. Again, this is how my shinobi career ends.

Remembering the plan, Amagi and I continue to rush forward, Hideo providing fireballs, that I make bigger with my wind current manipulation while Amagi continues to toss out a weapon or two, not in all of the fireballs, but in enough of them, that it is a worry.

After what felt like a year, Kankuro calls out, "Time! Good job kids."

We all freeze, it hasn't been a full thirty minutes yet, has it?

Hideo is the first to drop his hands, Amagi and I follow suite.

Kankuro nods, "Good job. Now it is time to do your mission for the day. This time, I want you all to wear traditional robes and keep your cowl up. I don't want someone to get a glance at your face. You will show your forehead protector when needed, but other than when you are meeting the client or when you are finished with your mission and handing it in at the Kage tower, you will keep the fact you are a shinobi a secret."

"Won't people know we are shinobi simply because we are on a mission?" I asked, having gotten my breathing under control. Seriously, I needed to train better if this is getting me winded.

"Not for this mission. You three are going to courier around some scrolls, most are for the different departments, nothing that is classified. Most people will assume that you three are civilians or still in the Academy and doing this for either extra spending money or for punishment." He stared at the three of us, "At least that is the impression you will want to leave them with. You will be in contact with civilians for the most part and only shinobi at the beginning and end of each scroll. However, they should be low level shinobi, so you will have to figure out how to fool them. Robes should be in your lockers. Have the Desk Shinobi show you where they are."

With that Kankuro walked back to the massive door and disappeared in a flash of smoke.

Looking at the two boys, I shrugged and walked back into the back entrance to the Intel building. Surprisingly I didn't have to use any chakra to open the door, but maybe it was because Lord Kankuro opened it for us?

We make our way back down the dimly lit hallway and walked over to the Desk Shinobi.

"Could you show us where our lockers are?" Hideo asked.

"Lord Kankuro said you would be able to show us," I offered. It always helps to have a person in power behind your requests.

The Desk Shinobi got up and walked towards the last door in the room. "The lockers are in here. You can leave anything you may need. Showers are over there, male on one side, female on the other. The lockers are sealed with a chakra lock, so just put your chakra into the seal and it will open. This way you can leave mission scrolls or poisons in the locker and get cleaned up without worrying about the mission being compromised. Just find your name and you should be good to go."

I walked down the row of lockers and found my name near the area where the showers were. I opened the lock and found a dark blue robe with a cream-colored cowl. I grabbed the robe and walked over to the girl's shower and quickly rinsed the sand and grim off me. I yelled, "Make sure you get any blood off you before you put the robes on. The fastest way to show you are a shinobi is by having blood on your robes."

I dry off with a towel and throw it into the bin labeled dirty and slip my shirt and pants back on. Then I take the robe and pull it over my head and slip my arms into the sleeves. I look at myself in the mirror and remember our instructions. I pull my hair tie off the end of my braid and quickly undo the braid. I then brush my hair back so that it fell down my back in small waves. I then walk back out to the locker room area and pick up the cowl. Walking back to the mirror, I slipped the cowl over my head and pulled my hair over the cowl and over my shoulders. This way, when I pulled the cowl up to cover my head, my hair will stay in place.

Nodding at myself in the mirror, I walked back to the locker room to wait on one of the benches. A very short time later, Amagi and Hideo came from the boys shower area wearing their robes. I smiled at them.

Amagi was wearing a black robe while Hideo was wearing a dark brown robe, we all had matching cream-colored cowls, the standard color for Suna civilians. However, I did laugh because both of them had put a belt on, to carry their weapons pouches on.

"If we are supposed to be civilians, we can't carry our weapons on us, at least not outside our robes," I snicker.

"Then where do you suggest we put them?" Amagi demanded.

"Well," I pulled my robe up, "I have mine strapped above my knee, that way I can easily reach it and it isn't visible from the outside."

"How is it easily reachable? It is stuck under your robe!" Amagi pointed out.

I sigh, "It is under my robe, but because of the knee length slit in the side of my robe, I can easily reach my weapons if I need to." I turned and showed them the mentioned slit and how when I was standing straight, my weapons pouch wasn't visible. Then I demonstrated how I was easily able to reach it when I needed to.

"How come yours has a slit and mine doesn't?" Hideo asked, pulling on his robe to see if he had a slit or not.

I kneel and look at the robe, it should have a slit. I run my fingers over the side seam, "There it is," I pull a kunai from my pouch and quickly cut the thread holding the slit closed. I look over and see Amagi doing the same, "Now you can hide your weapons, at least a little bit."

"Thanks, Tsukio." Hideo said.

I smiled in response.

Once we were situated, Hideo lead the way and walked us out to the Desk Shinobi's desk. There he handed us a red mission scroll and said, "Your first pickup is from the front guard station, they will tell you where it goes. After that report to the Kage tower missions desk, show them this scroll and they will give you the rest of your deliveries. Remember the only one who can know that you are shinobi is the missions desk. Good luck."

We all hurried out of the building. The front guard station is at the very front of the village. Most people don't even notice it, because it is built into the cliffs surrounding the village.

"When we get to the guard station, I think I should get the report," I tell the boys.

"Why?" Hideo asked.

"I am the one that has a better chance of passing myself off as a civilian. At least I have the background," I shrug.

Hideo nods, "Okay. You will need to clearance scroll to pick up the paperwork, it should be contained in the mission scroll."

We stop and watch as Hideo pulls out the red mission scroll. After reading it for a minute, Hideo places it on the ground, bites his thumb and smears his blood over the seal and a small golden-brown scroll pops out.

I tuck the scroll into my hand and pull my sleeve over it. Then I take the cowl and pull it over my head, so my face is in the shadows.

"Remember to keep your cowl up," I say as we continue. "Make sure to keep your eyes in pointed towards your destination, and don't look around at the roofs or in the shadows. We are civilians trying to earn a little extra money. So, we move faster than a slow walk, but slower than a jog. We don't want to get dirty and kick up a lot of dust because that is rude and bad manners."

Hideo frowned, "That is a lot of rules for a simple walk."

I laugh, "At least you are boys and can look a little messy, as a civilian girl of marriageable age, I can't have even a single hair out of place or a single smudge of dirt on the hem of my robe."

Amagi looked horrified. "If you are a civilian girl of marriageable age, then why would you be with us?"

"Because either she is already engaged, or her parents are thinking of a possible alliance with our family. If anyone asks, which I doubt they will, but if they do, we," Hideo pointed to himself and Amagi, "are brothers and friends of Tsukio's family. That way, people will draw their own conclusions."

Amagi sighed, "This is becoming very complicated. I just want to be a shinobi and protect my village, not know the secret of acting like a civilian."

"Again, at least you are not female," I say, "This is what most of our kunoichi lessons were about. So, while you were learning better strategy tactics or different fighting tactics, we were learning how to pass ourselves off as civilian females."

"That sounds boring," Hideo laughed.

"It was, especially since Mother already made sure that I knew all of the stuff they were teaching," I sighed.

"So, have either of you come up with a decision about Lord Kankuro's team?" Amagi asked as we walked.

I nodded, "I want to do it."

"Why?" Amagi asked.

"Yesterday, I was complaining about how this is really an impossible task. But I was reminded that if we can achieve this impossible task, then all of Suna will be safer. If we can inspire the level of fear that the Sannin inspire, then Suna shinobi will be less likely to be attacked. Suna merchants will be safer, because bandits will fear that we are guarding the caravan." I shrug, "It seems impossible, but for me the reward for success is worth trying the impossible."

Hideo nodded, "While my reasons are different from Tsukio's, I also want to try. Even if we end up failing, we should be able to get to chūnin at least, which is in line with my goal of becoming a Jōnin. It just means I have to work harder and understand that I will be working with you two until we either become the team Lord Kankuro has envisioned, or we fail and are moved to other areas like any normal genin team."

Our conversation paused as I slowly walked over to the guard station. This was going to be difficult, because they are trained to spot enemy shinobi acting like civilians. Which is why I walked forward, I could at least give the impression of a civilian and my chakra levels were low, which helped the impression.

"I'm here to pick up the early morning report," I tell one of the shinobi inside the station.

He looks me up and down, "Where is your paperwork?"

I hold out the scroll, not the red mission scroll, but a golden brown one that has all the signatures required to pick up the reports. The chūnin looked over the scroll, applied some chakra to it to authenticate the scroll before handing it back to me. Then he sealed the morning reports and handed me that scroll.

"Here you are, this goes straight to Kage tower," the chūnin told me.

I smile shyly and nod, "Yes, shinobi-san," I give a small head bow and turn around. Amagi was trying hard to look slightly awed by the fact he was looking at shinobi, while Hideo was looking bored. I didn't roll my eyes, but I really wanted to.

Together we walked down the road to the Kage tower.

"Are you sure that is what is going to happen when we fail?" Amagi asked, picking up our conversation before we were interrupted by the mission.

"What else are they going to do?" Hideo asked.

"They could decide we are unfit to serve as shinobi and force us to retire," Amagi replied

"Then they will have wasted resources," Hideo answered, which is another way of saying that something is like committing suicide, because you don't waste resources in the desert. It was a faster way to get yourself killed.

I noticed the boys looking around more as we got closer to Kage tower. "What are you looking for?"

"I feel someone watching us," Amagi hissed.

"Don't look!" I hissed back, "Remember, you are a civilian boy doing some errands for spending money, not a genin on a mission!"

"Right," he said, looking at the ground.

"How did you get so good at this type of thing, Tsukio?" Hideo asked.

"Huh?" was my response, intelligent, I know.

"You know what you should be doing on a mission like this. And yesterday you were able to think ahead for your disguise," Hideo clarified.

"Oh," I look down for a moment trying to collect my thoughts, "I don't really know much about missions."

Amagi snorted in response.

I smiled at him before continuing my thought, "But Mother has spent a lot of time teaching me how to be a good merchant's daughter. She has also been teaching me how to be a good merchant's wife. Once I turned eleven and the daimyo took notice of me and began sending me gifts on special occasions, such as my birthday. Mother started my court training as she called it. Really this is nothing more than what we are trying to do here."

"What is court training?" Hideo asked.

I sighed loudly, "Court training is where I learn how to act like a lady from the daimyo's court. I had to learn how to walk differently, depending on who I was walking with. I also had to learn a whole new set of rules about what to talk about, how to talk and even how to eat. It is annoying! But Father says it is good practice for when I travel to other nations because they do things differently than we do in Suna and I will have plenty of social skills to fall back on, so I won't insult anyone."

"So, acting like anything other than a shinobi is normal for you?" Amgai asked, his voice full of contempt, maybe.

"I was a civilian for half my life. My family is full of civilians. I am only one of a small handful of people in my family who have even become a shinobi. However, my family is full of merchants. We travel to different places to make business deals or to meet with business partners. It is important to be able to understand their customs and manners. If you don't then you might offend them and ruin the deal. It never hurts to know who you are dealing with, that way you can easily fool them into thinking you are not as smart as you really are, or to overwhelm them with how great you are. It depends on the expectations on you." I shrug, knowing this lesson well. Having had it taught to me, not only by Mother and Father, Grandmother, and various people I have met through Father's business.

"So, this is something you do all the time?" Amagi asked again.

"I guess," I shrug again.

"Then we will have to rely on your expertise to get us through the rest of this mission," Hideo said.

By this time, we walked into Kage tower, slowly moving through the room until we got to the chūnin at the desk. Hideo handed the chūnin our red mission scroll and was given two more scrolls.

"This scroll has the list of places you need to go to," he pointed to the green scroll. "This one," he pointed to the brown scroll, "is the scroll that everyone needs to sign. You are to go to the four greenhouses, the two water towers, the water treatment building and the agriculture building. There you will get a report from all of them, they will sign seal their report in this scroll and sign it. Do not leave until you get the signature." The chūnin stressed the last sentence. "Any questions?"

We shook our heads.

"Bring the brown scroll back when you are finished. You have until just after lunch to complete this mission. Dismissed."

Hideo took the two scrolls and we all bowed before turning around and walking out.

"How did you want to do this?" Hideo asked as we stood outside the tower, he opened the scroll and saw the addresses and specific names of the eight places they needed to go and collect the reports.

Amagi studied the list, "We should start on one end of the village and work our way to the other end, working in a spiral direction, that way we won't miss any of the places we need to go to and we won't be retracing our footsteps too much."

"It might be more difficult to do that when we can't run, or run on the roofs," Hideo observed.

I shrugged, "The water towers are on opposite ends of the village, while the greenhouses are spaced between the towers. So we could start at one water tower, go to the greenhouses, get to the other water tower and the water treatment building and the agriculture building at the end before we turn in our mission," I offered. I thought it was a good compromise.

"I guess," Amagi sighed, "We could still go in a circle, so that we don't miss anything."

"Okay," I agreed.

We set off for the opposite side of the village. We kept our pace faster than a leisurely walk, but definitely slower than a shinobi would go. The hardest part was to stop looking in all of the shadows and other hiding places. At least it was for Hideo because I kept having to distract him with a pretty thing hanging in a shop or to a bird flying overhead or something else to get him to focus on. It was annoying.

We made it to the first water tower and handed the chūnin the brown scroll. Taking the scroll, the chūnin signed it and sealed away the report within.

"Thank you, shinobi-san," I said with a bow and we turned around and walked back out.

The rest of the stops were just as easy, most never questioned why a group of three civilians were doing what was essentially a D-rank mission, but since we didn't have a mission scroll, we were given a pass. Which is not good, unless they had all been warned beforehand. But really, this was not a hard test to pass.

"So, I think we should do the team thing," Amagi said as we were walking back to Kage tower to deliver the completed mission.

"Did we convince you, or do you have your own reasons?" Hideo asked.

"Does it matter?" Amagi shot back.

"It does, if only so we know where the others on the team stand. Tsukio is going to give this team everything she has because she is hopeful that this team will earn a reputation that will keep her family safe. I am going to give this team as much of myself as I can, for as long as I can, because even if we fail, this team will get me closer to my goals in life. Your reasons will either help us or hurt our goals and I think it is only fair that we know your reasons," Hideo reasoned.

I am shocked, Hideo was able to take all my rambling thoughts and sum them up in a simple sentence. I am also shocked that Hideo is expecting us to fail but going to go ahead and do the team anyway. My third shock is the fact that Amagi is even going to try the team. He has been the most reluctant to even eat lunch with me, much less commit his entire shinobi career to be in a team with me.

"Fair enough, I guess. I think you both have the right idea. I doubt we will be able to achieve what Lord Kankuro wants us to be, but in the end, we will be stronger shinobi because of this team and the learning we will undergo. From what Lord Kankuro was saying, it sounds like we will be given a speed course in our training, because he wants us out in the field right away. If this team can grow the reputation of Sunagakure, then more power to us. However, in the end, we will be stronger shinobi and that is my final goal."

I nod, convinced that there are other reasons behind both boys' agreement to give this team a try. I don't ask them, because those reasons are probably personal and as of right now, I don't have their trust to know those personal reasons. Much like they don't have my trust to know the personal reasons behind my need to have this team succeed.

Handing the brown scroll to Hideo and we walk in to hand in our mission.

The chūnin at the desk smiles at us as she unseals the reports, gives them a quick glance to ensure they are the correct ones and then hands us each a slip of paper. Our pay stub. "Thank you for your service to Suna. May you continue to return and bring honor to our Village," the chūnin recited before dismissing us.

We left the building and walked towards the Intel building.

"Do you want some lunch?" I asked as we passed a barbeque restaurant and the smell of cooking meat had my stomach growling.

"Do we have time for lunch before we report our mission success?" Amagi asked.

"We weren't told to report immediately," I replied slowly.

"We weren't told we could stop and get food either," Hideo replied.

I glanced around, looking for something because I was starving! I hadn't eaten since breakfast and that was before the horrible, awful training Lord Kankuro gave us. "Then a snack at least?" I asked, pointing to the yakitori stand just in front of us.

Hideo glanced at the stand, then at the sun.

"We didn't get anything after our morning training, and it is almost lunchtime. I think we can get a small snack. Who knows when we will be getting to stop for lunch," I continued. "We can eat and walk back at the same time," I gave a big smile, "Please, Hideo, I'm starving."

"Fine," Hideo sighed, "Just make sure it is quick."

"Yes!" I jump up and shout. Walking over to the stand, I see there isn't many customers, which hopefully means I will get my food before Hideo gets mad and leaves me behind. To my surprise, Amgai stands in line with me.

"I would like two chicken and vegetables and one ground beef meatball please," I order. Maybe if I bring Lord… err, Kankuro-sensei a snack he will be okay with us stopping for a snack.

"I'll have the same," Amagi said.

"Make that three," Hideo called out.

I look over my shoulder and he shrugs at me.

While we waited Amagi asked, "Why the meatball?"

"Oh, my friend Matsuri once told me that Lor… taichou likes the taste of beef over chicken so I thought I would bring him something, so if he is going to be upset by us stopping for a snack, maybe he won't be as upset because we also brought him one."

"That," Hideo said slowly, "is good thinking."

"Father always told me to bring a gift when breaking bad news, that way the news won't feel as bad because you are feeling good about the gift."

"That is good reasoning, I guess," Amagi said, "but only if it works."

"True," I said, "but no harm in trying."

We collected our orders and walked back to the Intel building, where Kankuro was waiting for us at the desk.

"What took you three so long?" He demanded.

If I wasn't the one being stared at, I would have laughed, after all I still have a yakitori stick in my hand and am currently trying to swallow my mouthful of chicken.

Hideo held out the small box that held three sticks of ground beef meatball yakitori on them, "We stopped to get a small snack because we were supposed to be civilians who just finished a job and as such, our job was finished once we handed in the scroll at Kage tower. It is customary to get a bite to eat when you are hungry and it was close enough to lunch time that it would look strange if we didn't. Also," he paused and shook the bag slightly, "We brought you something, taichou, in case you wanted a small something after your training."

Kankuro grinned, "Very good, my little genin. Very good. Now report."

Hideo stood straighter, "We accomplished the mission assigned to us. Genin Tsukio was in charge of interacting with the shinobi we encountered for signatures. Genin Amagi was in charge of guarding the scrolls while we were walking from place to place, while Genin Hideo was point for the transitions between each area we collected reports. After a few words, the chūnin or civilians at the desks were very willing to give their reports to Tsukio, especially after she would show them the brown scroll. No one visably reacted to the fact she was acting as a civilian, nor did they demand to see her shinobi credentials. This is either due to the fact we failed to be civilian enough, or the chūnin at the desks didn't care.

"After we collected all the required reports, we finished at the mission's desk where we were given our pay stubs and we left. Finally we stopped to get some yakitori and finally we arrived back here."

"Very good, now what method of travel did you use?" Kankuro asked.

"We walked at a civilian pace the entire time, taichou. Slightly faster than a stroll, but much slower than a run."

"Did you three come up with a reason why all of you were performing this mission?"

"We decided to just stick with Genin Amagi and Hideo being brothers and Genin Tsukio as a friend of the family, that could possibly be a possible marriage match for either boy," Hideo answered.

Kankuro nodded, "Very good. Now go and take those robes off and meet me back here, I think we need to talk."

"Yes, sir!" Quickly we walked back to the lockers, placed our robes inside. I put my belt containing my scrolls back on and put my hair back into a braid before wrapping the braid around my head to keep it off my neck, while the boys put their vests on.

Walking out of the locker room, I see Kankuro-sensei finishing up the food we brought him. "Follow me," he said, straightening up from his bent position. Kankuro walks straight to the stairs, up to the third floor and down the hall. He opens a door and I see a desk with three chairs in front of it. "Sit," he says while sliding behind the desk and sitting in his chair.

"Now I think you three have reached a decision about my team," Kankuro says.

My mind goes blank for a moment as I realize that Kankuro knew we had come to a decision. We made that decision while walking back to Kage tower, which means we were being spied on the whole time, and close enough that they could hear everything we said. My mind racing, there wasn't anyone close enough, nor was there the same person… the robes.

"You bugged our clothing!" I accused, my mouth moving before I could stop it.

Hideo and Amagi glared at me, because I just yelled at Lord Kankuro or because I figured out about the bugs, I'm not sure.

"Very good," Kankuro said. "It took you much longer than I expected for you to figure it out, but then again, you are all still genin, and you all trust me, so I won't hold it against you."

"Why did you bug our clothes?" Amagi asked.

"Many reasons, to listen as you three talked over my proposal. To see how you handled the mission. To see if you would notice that you were carrying bugs with you and if you did, what would you do about it." Kankuro shrugged, "The possible reasons are endless."

"So, you already know that we intend to commit to this team and the vision you have for it, so why are we here? What else do you need to know?" I asked, still upset that Kankuro bugged our clothes. I have half a mind to go, get the robe and cowl to find out where the bug was.

"Well at the moment, I need to give you three more information," Kankuro pressed a seal on the desk and kept talking, "First you will be constructed just like a regular genin team, I am assigning you a permanent Jōnin sensei, but he will not be your only teacher. All three of you will be get extensive training on how to be a spy, how to gather information and how to blend it. You will be expected to master an area of study of your choosing, within reason. Your Jōnin sensei will be the one who approves of your choice. You will be expected to continue performing D-rank missions until you have completed your required twenty. I suggest you go through them as quickly as you can so that you can start taking more difficult missions. You can expect your missions to run like those you have already done. You will have a mission but given an extra mission to be completed while on your primary, such as being disguised. You three will also have extra training to get your body into better shape. This morning you did well, but you need to do better.

"Your primary training will be in gathering intel for Suna, but you will be given opportunities to be in interrogation to learn those techniques as well. You three will also be given some basic field medical training, enough to patch you and your teammates up so you can return to Suna. Do you have any questions?" Kankuro looked each of us in the eye as he asked his question.

I shook my head no.

The door to the office opened and the elder with the red marks on his face walked in.

"Baki-sensei, right on time. This is the group I was telling you about. They are ready to become a team to be feared in all the nations."

Baki looked at the three of us and nodded, "Lord Kankuro has high hopes for the three of you. He says you have great potential. It is my job to ensure that you reach your potential and surpass Lord Kankuro's hopes. It will be the hardest thing you have ever done, and you will want to give up. My advice to you is, don't.

"Lord Kankuro has told me of your spar this morning and of your mission this morning. I suggest you three get some lunch and meet me at Kage tower in one hour. From there we can discuss if you want to perform another mission or start your training."

"Yes, Elder," I say.

"Baki-sensei is fine, Tsukio," Baki's lips twitched as if he found something funny. "See you three in one hour," he reminded us before walking back out the door.

I turned to look at Kankuro, "You heard the man, you have one hour to get some food and be at Kage tower. I know you three will make this team one to be feared," Kankuro said.

We stood up and walked out the door, before I walked through, Kankuro called out from behind me, "Don't disappoint me."

I forced myself to keep walking, Lord Kankuro has very high expectations for us. Failure will lead to disappointing Lord Kankuro. I keep my expression blank as we exit the building, my mind racing with all the ways this could go horribly wrong, my brain supplying all the horrible things that could happen to us if we fail.

"Come with me," Hideo says as we start walking down the street.

I follow blindly, because my thoughts are all jumbled together. The most prominent thought is what if we fail? A close second is how many ways can we fail?

"I don't have much, but I can make us some instant ramen," Hideo said. I blinked, we were in one of the rooms in the barracks.

The barracks is where genin and chūnin are forced to live if they don't have a family to live with. Jōnin can choose to live here, or they can rent or buy a place of their own. The barracks were divided into different sections, mainly according to rank. This allows the higher rank shinobi to have more room and privacy while the lowest ranks usually must share a kitchen and bathroom with someone.

"Now that we are a team, do you think they will let us be roommates? Amagi asked, looking around the room, "Your living space is bigger than mine."

I looked around the room, there was a bed under the small window, a dresser along the wall, a small nightstand next to the bed with a lamp and a picture frame on it. We were standing near the door which we entered, to the left was a door that was closed and to my right was another door, this is the door Hideo walked through. It led to a small kitchen equipped with a sink, stove, oven and a couple cabinets. In the middle was a table with four chairs.

"We can ask," Hideo said, "I wouldn't mind trying to see if one of the larger rooms were available."

"You mean the ones that share a living room and kitchen and bedrooms with attached bathrooms?" Amagi asked, his voice slightly awed.

"We can ask Baki-sensei about it when we see him," Hideo replied. He walked over to the stove and put the water on to boil before rummaging through the cabinet for cups of ramen.

I pulled a scroll out from where it was attached to my belt and unsealed the lunch Mother had prepared. "I have onigiri and some fruit that we can have with the ramen." I set the bento out on the table. "Mother made this for me last night." I explained.

"Do you mind sharing?" Hideo asked, looking at the fruit.

I lifted the box in his direction, "Take what you want, you are making ramen, it is only fair to make sure my teammates have a balanced meal." I give Hideo and Amagi a grin as I grab a small piece of dried fruit and nibble on it.

The water boils and Hideo pours it into the cups and places the cups on the table in front of us along with a set of chopsticks for each of us.

"So, what do you think of our training plan?" Amagi asked Hideo.

"It is going to be hard work. We are not only working on an intelligence and interrogation specialization, but we are also to have one extra specialization, medical training and still work on our team work," Hideo summed it up nicely I thought.

"We also have to learn how to be spies, which from what I understand is a different field entirely," I say.

Hideo slurped up a mouthful of noodles and nodded, "It is, but it also consists of skills that can be applied to intelligence and interrogation, which is why spying falls under intelligence gathering."

I nod, "You two will have much more experience than I do since you have been with intel and interrogation longer than I have."

"Amagi and I will be willing to help you out in any way we can," he replied before eating some more.

I glanced at Amagi who nodded.

"Okay," I said before applying myself to my ramen.

"Any idea what you want to specialize in?" Amagi asked, looking at Hideo and me.

"I think I want to specialize in genjutsu," I offered, "I think that would help with all aspects of what we are supposed to be training in."

"That is a good idea, are you going to keep up with your wind element?" Amagi asked.

"Probably, but I know I will never become the next Lady Temari. How about you two?"

"I think I want to specialize in something that will incorporate my fire jutsus," Hideo answered. "I don't know if I want to do nothing but fire jutsu, but it is a good one to specialize in, especially with your two elements."

I nodded.

"I want to get better with my weapons, maybe with taijutsu or shurikenjutsu. I would also like to continue to advance with my elemental jutsu."

I finish my ramen and grab one more piece of fruit before Amagi and Hideo eat it all, they have already eaten the onigiri. I am letting them eat more than me, but only because I know they are boys and they are living at the barracks, which means they don't get home cooked meals like I do. Maybe I should invite them over more or ask Mother if she will let me bring them some food, but only if they won't be offended.

I clear off the table once everyone is finished and wash my hands in the sink. I glanced at the clock on the wall, "We should leave soon."

Hideo nods, "It should only take us a minute or two to get there from here."

Hideo walked back to his room, grabbed a bag from on top of his dresser, "Ready?"

"Yep."

"Lead the way," I echo.

Hideo walked out of the room, Amagi and I on his tail. We walked down to the street and rushed over to Kage tower.

Baki-sensei was waiting for us, "Follow me," he said and walked into the tower. We walked past the room with the missions desk and we walked into a room at the end of a small hallway. Baki-sensei walked to the table and sat down at the head, he gestured for us to take one of the other seats. We all sat, I was on the left of Baki while Hideo was on the right with Amagi next to him.

"I am sure you three have some questions for me, Lord Kankuro has given me all of your records. He has also explained to me the purpose behind this team and what he hopes to see from you three in the future. It is my job to ensure that future comes to pass. So, what I need from you three is your promise and your commitment to do as I say. This is not going to be easy, by any means, it will, as I said before, be the hardest thing you have done. I have only a few months to get you three ready to participate in the chūnin exams that will be held at the end of the summer. It is Lord Kankuro's wish for you three to enter and win those exams. However, you need to be doing C-rank missions to even be nominated for the chūnin exams. This means you three will have to accomplish eighteen more D-rank missions in ten days, all while we are training. Your physical strength needs to improve, as do your physical skills. You will also be spending time in Intel and Interrogation to learn those skills. That will be about once a week in each area, at least until you are doing C-rank and B-rank missions. Then it will be when you are in the village. Also the field medical will be once a week for a couple weeks. It doesn't take too long to learn how to stop the bleeding.

"Finally you will be choosing a specialty, that will also take up at least once a week, maybe more, depending on when I can get the Jōnin to be able to teach you. Remember, this is all in addition to you doing missions and other basic genin things, like learning how to walk up walls or basic ninjutsu."

Baki paused and looking each one of us in the eye he asked, "Are you committed to this?"

"Yes," the three of us respond.

"Do you have an idea of how you want to get the D-rank missions done?" Baki asked.

"Depending on the D-ranks, and the additional missions tacked on, we could easily do two missions a day," I venture my opinion.

"What about training?" Baki asked.

"We have done two D-ranks, and while I know not all D-ranks are the same, we were able to complete them in a few hours, even with the added parts of the missions. If we plan accordingly, we could easily get two done, especially if they overlap in duties. If we meet early for training, get some breakfast, do two missions, have lunch at some point in there, we could be done before dinner."

"So physical training in the morning that is a good time, but you will also need to train when it is hot, to get used to training in the heat."

"Of course, but we can also do that after we finish up the D-ranks," Hideo says, "I think we need to decide which are the priorities of everything that needs to be done."

"Very good," Baki said, "So D-ranks and physical training are your priorities?"

"With Intel and Interrogation training right after that, along with chakra exercises," I say.

"Once we start C-ranks where we are out of the village for a while, we should get the field medical training," Amagi said.

"Good," Baki nodded. "You have your list of priorities. You should have figured out by now, that this is not normally how genin teams are run, but due to the nature of this team, you three will need to start thinking like a team and start learning how each other thinks. I know this takes time and can't be rushed, or forced, so the easiest way to get started on that is to allow you three to voice your opinions and to talk out your thought process. That way your teammates, and I, can start learning how you think and the important part, why you think that."

What he says makes sense, I know that we will have to start somewhere, but I would be lying if I did want to walk through my thought processes and the whys of my thought processes with Hideo and Amagi. That requires trust and frankly I don't have that with them. But I need to get it and fast, so that we can become the team Lord Kankuro envisions us to be.

Baki gave a small smile, his lips on the half of his face we can see, the corner lifts slightly and his eye wrinkles with the smile. "So there are a few hours before dinner, did you want to try to get another D-rank or did you want to work on chakra control?"

I perk up at the idea, "Chakra control?"

"How?" Amagi asked.

"Walking up walls," Baki replied.

I grin, "Yes please, Baki-sensei!" I look over at Amagi and Hideo and see they are looking at Baki-sensei, waiting to see what he says.

"Even though chakra training is lower on your priority list, I think it is important for you three to be able to walk up walls. So come with me, we are going to find a wall to climb," Baki stood up and walked out the door.

Like little ducklings, we followed on his heels.

Looking around, I couldn't see anything familiar, "Baki-sensei? Where are we?"

"We are in the area where the Kazekage trains, most people avoid this area because when Lord Kazekage trains, his sand flies everywhere," he pointed to the building just to the left of the large sand filled area, "That is what you are going to learn to walk up."

I looked up, it was a very tall building, about four stories high, not the tallest building in Suna, but close. It had large square and rectangular windows from the second floor up. The roof was flat and had spots of green on it. The green was easy to see against the light brown of the building.

As most buildings in Suna, it was made out of a clay material that was very strong, it would keep the house cool in the warm months and warmer in the cooler months. The walls would also be thick enough to withstand the harsh winds that happen during the colder season. The windows would be reinforced to keep from shattering from the sand hitting it during the sand storms, because there were not shutters along the windows. Unless the shutters were hidden, I mused. Other than the height of the building and the lack of shutters, this looked to be a very typical building in Suna.

"If you can climb to the very top, I will go easy on you tomorrow for physical training," Baki said.

I frowned, I didn't want Baki-sensei to go easy on me, we had six months to prepare for the chūnin exams, easy was not where we needed to be.

Baki caught my frown, "Problem?"

"Sensei, I don't want you to go easy on us. We don't have long to prepare and we need all the pushing we can get."

"I didn't say I wouldn't push you, just that I won't make you feel like you want to die," was his response.

I nodded this time. So easy just meant not as hard, but still going to make you suffer. I could work with that. From the looks on my teammates faces, they felt the same.

"How do you climb up a wall?" Hideo asked.

"You concentrate a small amount of chakra into your feet, similar to when you run across sand, and you use the chakra to stick to the wall," was all the explanation we got. Baki walked straight up the wall, all the way to the third floor, turned around and looked at us, "Well?"

I took a deep breath and focused on my chakra, moving it to my feet, trying to make it feel like when I walk on sand, I put one foot on the wall, put some weight on it. My foot stayed in place! I moved my other foot to the wall and I still stayed up! Focusing on my feet, moving one foot slowly in front of the other, I passed the first set of windows. I can do this!

I looked to my left, and saw that Hideo was keeping up with me, his face screwed up in full concentration. I turned my head to the right. Not finding Amagi, I looked up, then down. Amagi was a little lower than Hideo and I, but he was dirty. A glance down showed a small indent in the dirt where Amagi must have landed. I didn't even hear him fall!

My focus shifted from my feet to my memories to see if I really did hear Amagi fall and just didn't acknowledge it. How awful that my teammate fell, and I didn't notice.

My feet started to slip and instinctively I reached for the wall, my fingers searching for something to grab on to. I could feel the wind on my face as I plummeted to the ground. My fingers felt at small bump in the wall, I shoved all the chakra I could into my fingers to strengthen them and tried to hold onto the small bump. My fingers slipped, but my fall had slowed a little.

Enough for me to hear someone yell, "Get your feet under you!"

My feet? Oh right, rule number one when falling, always land on your feet. Twisting, using my stomach muscles, I forced my feet under me. Just in time for them to hit the ground. Instinctively I put chakra into my legs, surrounding the bones and reinforcing the muscles to keep my upright. Bending my knees helped to lessen the impact and I took a deep breath. I landed.

"Good first try, now do it again," the voice called out. Baki-sensei was the one yelling at me. I sigh happily. Baki-sensei was looking out for me.

Turning to face the wall, I tried again. This time I made it four steps past the second set of windows before I fell. This time, I didn't waste time looking for a way to stop myself, I just looked for a way to slow myself down so the landing wouldn't require as much chakra.

After my fourth time walking up the wall, I noticed something. Amagi didn't hit the ground after the second time he fell. I stood at the bottom of the building and watched him. That little butthead! When he would fall, he would do something to his hands and feet and he would just slide down the building, and when he stopped, he would start over again.

My fifth attempt, my final attempt, I was able to walk up the building, and grab onto the edge of the roof before my control gave out.

"Get up here, Tsukio!" Amagi called out, breathless because he just landed on the roof.

"Use your arms to get up here if you have too," Hideo said. Hideo wasn't breathless at all, he was able to walk up the building after only three tries, the jerk.

With a grunt of frustration, I force more chakra into my toes to give me stability to push up and give my arms some help pulling me up onto the roof. With a thump, I landed on the roof, laying on my side where I landed, breathing hard from the effort to get up here.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

I turned my head to see Lady Temari standing over by Baki-sensei, clapping.

"Nice job you three, it took Kankuro and myself a long time to figure out how to walk along walls."

"To be fair, Lady Temari, you were only seven when you started to learn," Baki replied.

Temari nodded, "True, but it still took longer than a couple hours."

I try to gather enough energy to sit up, but I can't even smile right now, much less move my body. Hideo walks over and offers me a hand, I eagerly move my arm, and sigh as it twitches a little at my command. Hideo grins and leans down to grab my shoulder and pushes me up. I pull my noodle like legs at the knees and wrap my arms around my knees to keep myself upright.

"Thanks, Hideo," I whisper.

Hideo walks over to Amagi and helps him stand up, then they walk over to me and sit on either side of me.

"Good job you three," Baki said, walking closer to us. "Tsukio, you will need to eat a large dinner and just rest. Don't use anymore chakra for the rest of the day. Your reserves need to replenish. Hideo, nice chakra control. Have you tried wall walking before?"

Hideo nodded, "Last year one of the Jōnin in Interrogation started to teach me the basics."

"It shows. Amagi, good job with finding a way to not fall all the way to the ground. Next time, you should look for other ways to catch yourself so that you don't use up so much chakra slowing your fall. You also need to eat a big dinner and not use any more chakra for the rest of the night. We will meet at the training ground behind the Intel building, the same one you used with Kankuro this morning. Meet up at six in the morning. Eat a good breakfast but bring something to eat after training. Also bring a change of clothes because right after training you will be starting your D-ranks for the day. I am going to try and get you two or more."

"Yes, Baki-sensei," we chorused.

"Baki-sensei?" Hideo asked.

"Yes?"

"Since Amagi and myself are on a team, do you think we could be roommates? It isn't unusual for teammates to be roommates at the barracks," Hideo rushed to explain.

I nod, "It would make it easier for us as a team if they were roommates, easier to check on each other."

Amagi just nodded, holding his breath.

We waited. I tried to get my sluggish brain in gear, trying to think of something, anything that would convince Baki that my teammates should be roommates. I mean, I didn't understand the appeal, but I heard the longing in Amagi's voice as he talked about the living space. It made me wonder what his room looked like. Maybe it was smaller than the one Matsuri lived in. The thought made me shudder. Or maybe he just had an awful roommate and he was looking for any excuse to get out.

"Tsukio, did you want to join your teammates in the barracks?" Baki's question interrupted my thoughts.

"What?" was my intelligent reply.

"Did you want to see if I could get you a room at the barracks also? There are some rooms that are designed to hold a three-man team. There isn't very many of them, but they do exist," Baki explained.

I chew on my lower lip as I think this through. Living in the barracks means I would have to leave home. Although it isn't unusual for a chūnin to live in the barracks, it makes it easier to get ready for missions, or to be called to a mission in the middle of the night. I figured I had a couple years before I had to make that decision.

Although, living with the boys would jump start us on the whole, know each other bone deep, part of this team.

As if sensing my distress, Temari cut into my thoughts, "Why don't you think about it for a little while, Tsukio. It is a big decision to make right now while you are tired. I am sure you will want to talk it over with your parents," she shared a glance with Baki, "Besides, the three man rooms might not even be available. So why doesn't Baki-sensei just focus on getting the boys in the same room and just ask if there is a three-man room available."

Baki nodded, "Of course, Lady Temari." He turned back to us, "Now you three should go home, get a healthy dinner and lots of sleep."

"Yes, sensei," we chorused again.

Baki left in a puff of smoke, leaving the four of us on the roof. Two of us were tired and ready to sleep, while one of us was trying to figure out how we were supposed to get off the damn roof if we were not supposed to use chakra!

"Damn it!" Hideo muttered looking around.

"What?" I asked.

"How are you two supposed to get off the roof, if you can't use chakra?" Hideo snarled.

"Use the door?" Amgai asked, pointing to the small door on the roof.

"Is it even open?" Hideo asked.

"It should be," Temari broke in, her voice full of amusement. "I came through it to get up here."

"Oh good," I say, "Then may we use the door to get off the roof and hopefully on the ground?" I ask her.

"Sure, I will lead you down myself."

Amagi stood up and I struggled to get myself moving, but once my feet were under me, I was able to lean a little on Amagi as we walked to the door. Down the stairs I started to notice something. This wasn't a government building, like I originally thought. This was someone's house!

"Do you live here, Lady Temari?" I asked, watching the ease at which she moved through the stairway and the hallways.

Temari turned and gave me a smile, "I do, so do my brothers."

I smother a gasp and turn wide eyed to look at Amagi, then Hideo. We were in the Kazekage's house! We just climbed the Kage house!

I glance around, the paintings on the walls, the small photographs scattered on different surfaces. We passed a room that was full of scrolls. Scrolls covering every available surface, stacked on tables, shoved onto chairs and balanced on shelves that were stuffed full. Another room had three large couches with a large fireplace making a square. The couches were good quality, but well used. The fireplace had the remains of a fire, the faint scent of smoke still in the air. We came to the first floor, into an open area. The room opened to the back yard, where a small collection of cacti were growing. There was lots of room for chairs, couches and even a long table. This must be the main entertaining area of the house. Which would explain why the rooms upstairs looked more comfortable.

"You have a lovely home," I tell Temari, suddenly remembering the manners Mother spent many years drilling into my head.

Temari looked around the room, "Thanks."

She held the front door open and we walked out

"Sorry for any damage we did to your home," Amagi said, looking at the ground in front of him.

"Don't worry about it, Gaara and Kankuro leave worst dents when they are sparing. Have a good night you three and follow Baki-sensei's orders."

"Yes, Lady Temari," we say. Turning around and walking down to the street, we turned towards the center of the village.

After walking silently for a little while, I spoke up, "Do you think all three of us living together will make it easier for us to do the bonding Kankuro-taichou wants us to do?"

"It makes sense, I mean proximity means familiarity with people's habits. It is what will help." Amagi paused, "Well it couldn't hurt at any rate."

I nod, "True, it is just," I stop walking and look at my teammates, "It is just that I was hoping to have a little more time with my brothers. I know that moving to the barracks doesn't mean I will stop seeing them all together. But we only see each other at dinner time, and sometimes not even then, especially if they are out with the caravan with Father."

"Then don't, when we become chūnin, you will have to move into the barracks anyway," Hideo advised.

"Will the delay stop me from forming the bond you two will? I don't want to be the weak link in this team!"

"I don't know, Tsukio!" Hideo cried out. "I don't know the answers to any of this. We are having to figure it out as we go!"

"Why don't you talk it over with your mom, maybe she will have a better understanding of what we are trying to do," Amagi offered.

"I doubt it," I complained, "but you are right, I should talk it over with someone," I perked up at the thought, "And there might not even be a room available for all of us yet."

"True," Hideo said, "Now we need to go and get a large dinner and lots of sleep."

I had an idea, it was probably a bad idea, because I haven't had the chance to talk to Mother. However good manners dictate that she would have to say yes, if I brought them over. But that would be rude, so I should go and talk to her. "Let's swing by my parent's store, I need to ask Mother a question."

We walked down to the store, I was leading the way. We walk in, Mother is standing at the counter in her usual dark brown robe with her light brown hair was parted down the middle and pulled over her shoulders.

I walk right up to her, since there were no customers in the building, "Mother," I whisper, "Can I invite my team over for dinner tonight? We just got done with some hard training and I don't want them to worry about dinner."

Mother looked at me, covered in dirt and sand, to the boys also covered in sand and some scratches and bruises. "Of course, my Tsukio. We are having cold soba noodles for dinner tonight, since your father is out of town I wanted an easy dinner."

"Thank you, Mother," I give her a quick hug.

"No problem, my dear. But will you stop by the store and pick up some more cucumber, carrots and peas? Then you will need to prepare them, just a little bit of a steam to soften them slightly."

"Of course, Mother. I will get that right now."

"Don't wait for me to eat, just start eating once it is finished. I am waiting on a customer and she seems to be running very late today."

"Yes, Mother. Are Takashi and Isamu home with Grandmother?"

"Takashi is having dinner with one of his classmates, but Isamu and Grandmother should be at the house."

I nod and walk back over to my teammates, "Come, I have to make dinner tonight, so I might as well feed you two as well. We need to stop by the grocery store and pick up some vegetables, but everything else should be done and ready for us to eat shortly after we get there."

Hideo and Amagi follow me, the same bewildered look on their faces.

"Why?" Amagi asked.

"It make sure you two get a healthy dinner, of course. We all worked hard, and this way no one has to worry about dinner." I shrug as if my explanation explains anything.

A brief stop at the store and a short walk later, we were at my house. We took off our sandals and I walked into the kitchen.

"Feel free to ask Isamu where the shower is, so you can clean up if you want to, or you can just hang out in the living room with Isamu and Grandmother," I say as I start pulling out the steam rack and the pots needed to finish dinner. I then walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the broth and the cold soba noodles and set them on the counter to start warming up. I then start peeling the carrots and slicing the other vegetables thinly.

I hear Isamu taking Amagi upstairs and offering to give him a clean shirt if he would like one. I hear the unmistakable voice of Grandmother talking, with brief moments of Hideo's voice answering whatever question she had asked. Or maybe he was offering his opinion on a matter they are discussing. Who knows.

I put the vegetables that need to be steamed on the steaming rack and put some water in a pot. When the water starts to boil, I turn the flame down and set the steaming rack on top of the pot. I start to time it, carrots and peas do not need to steam long at all.

While the vegetables were steaming, I took the eggs out of the refrigerator, cracked a dozen of them into a bowl and whipped them together with a small dash of sugar and some soy sauce. I then heated a small amount of oil in a large pan. I took the steaming rack off the pot and set it over to the side to stop the cooking process. Then I slowly added some of the scrambled egg to the now hot pan. After it set, I rolled the cooked egg to one side, then I added more egg, and repeated the process until all of the eggs were used and I had four rolls of egg.

I cut the eggs into thin strips, dished up the cold soba noodles into the different bowls, added the steamed vegetables, raw cucumber and the eggs to each bowl of noodles. I left the broth off, we can put that on once everyone was seated.

I moved into the living room to find Hideo and Amagi playing with Isamu. They were building something? Maybe. Grandmother had fallen asleep, not that surprising since she falls asleep at strange moments now. Father says it is because she is old.

"Dinner is done," I say in a low voice. I don't want to wake Grandmother up. Her food will keep until she wakes up on her own. "Mother said to start without her."

Isamu nodded, "Can I keep my building up?"

I glance at the building, it was enough out of the way that no one should crash into it before bedtime. "Sure, just make sure you take it down before you go to bed."

"Thank you, Tsukio!" Isamu ran over and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You are the best!"

"You are very welcome, Isamu. Just don't complain when you have to eat your vegetables."

"Aww man!" he replied.

I laughed softly and walked back to the kitchen, set bowls down in front of everyone who sat down. I poured some broth into Isamu's bowl and passed it to Amagi who was sitting next to him.

Dinner was mostly quiet, Isamu did most of the talking. He kept up the constant chatter, telling me about his day. I mostly tuned him out, not because I didn't care what was going on, but most of it was the same thing that happened every single day. However, something he said jolted me out of my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked.

Isamu blinked his wide eyes at me, "I was saying there is a kid at school that was trying to pick on me, but I told him that if he tried, my ninja sister would come and kick his butt!"

"Some kid tried to pick on you?" I asked, because I am certain that I didn't hear that correctly.

"Yep."

"Who is he?"

"Do you remember the grumpy old man who moved away a couple years ago?"

"The one who lived next to the park?"

"Yep, well the family that bought the house has a kid my age and he is a butthead. He is the one that keeps saying that I'm a liar because he never sees Father. Or you. And he says that his older sister is the best, which is just not true, Tsukio!"

"Breath, Isamu." I try to calm him down. "Everyone thinks their older sister is the best, does that make everyone wrong?"

"Yes! Because everyone knows you are the best!"

I smile and ruffle his hair, "I think you are the best too, Isamu. However it is important to remember that other people think their siblings are the best, which is also true."

"Okay," Isamu agreed with me, "Tsukio?"

The hesitation in his voice had me focusing on his eyes, "Yes?"

"Do you think you could meet me after school tomorrow. That way he won't try anything. I mean he doesn't do nothing when Takashi is there, but if he knew that you were a ninja, maybe he would leave me alone all the time. Because we all know that ninja can hide really well."

I nod, "I will do my best, Isamu. I have missions tomorrow, but I will see if sensei will let me take a small break to walk you home."

Isamu's face lit up, "Thank you! This is going to be awesome!" Isamu finished his dinner and started talking again. This time his topic was on how tomorrow was going to be the best day ever.

I glanced over and saw Amagi was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He had finished some of his food. I felt bad for him, I wanted to sleep too, but I couldn't. At least not until the dishes were done and Isamu was in bed. I stood up and walked over to Amagi.

I put my hand on his shoulder and he jumped straight up, "Amagi, did you want to take some home with you to eat later?" I asked, "That way you can just head home and sleep now."

"Sensei said I had to eat a large dinner," Amagi grumbled.

"I doubt sensei meant that you fall face first into your food trying to eat it," Hideo said. "Just let Tsukio pack up the rest of your food and you can eat it in the morning. If you have eaten enough that you are falling asleep, then you have had enough for now."

I quickly packed Amagi's food into a box and wrapped it up so it was easier to carry. "Do you want me to help you?" I asked Hideo, who had rinsed his bowl out and set it in the sink.

"Nah, I can handle it, so long as Amagi wakes up enough to walk," Hideo emphasized the last sentence as he bent close to Amagi's ear.

"I'm awake!" Amagi whined, "Stop yelling in my ear."

I laugh as we walk to the front door. The boys slip on their sandals and Hideo grabbed the bento.

"Don't worry about lunch tomorrow, I will bring enough for everyone," I told Hideo.

"More soba noodles?" the wistfulness evident in his voice.

"Sure, more soba noodles and vegetable," I agreed.

"Then I will see you at six tomorrow morning," Hideo said as Amagi waved at me and continued to walk down my street to get to one of the main roads.

Mother came home shortly after the boys had walked out of sight. I took a short and hot shower, put on my over-sized pajama shirt and a pair of shorts and fell into bed. Five in the morning was going to come early.

 **AN: Hello again! How is everyone doing? I have been struck by a huge dose of inspiration since being at home has become a thing. So here we are.**

 **This chapter has not been edited much, so please let me know any errors you find. I am so excited to start this journey with all of you. The new "sand siblings" is in training. I can't wait for you all to see where this goes. Do you have any thoughts as to how these three should interact? What types of things they should do? Please let me know.**

 **Until next time, be safe. Drink lots of water, and go outside and enjoy the sunshine when you can. Things look awful and bleak right now, so soak up some Vitamin D to remind yourself that this will pass.**


	14. Team Baki version 20

He is trying to kill us.

There was no other explanation as to why we were running around the OUTSIDE of the village at six in the morning.

Fifteen times around the village.

As a warm-up!

By the twelfth time around, I knew Baki-sensei was lying when he said he would go easy on us.

I collapsed on the hard sand of the Intel training grounds. I couldn't get enough breath into my lungs to make any breath actually count. I was sweaty and had sand stuck to my legs because of the sweat. I am going to ignore how most of the sand is there because I just fell onto the sand. However none of that was the point!

"Drink some water and stretch out!" Baki barked.

I groaned as I picked myself off the ground and staggered over to my water. My legs hurt from yesterday. They are dying after this warm up. I am convinced Ameno will have to amputate them before the day is done, especially if this continues.

My water was wet.

It was cold!

I would have sighed with relief if I could. I could feel the cold water, cool my sweaty body down and the water just fill all of the cells that were dehydrated because of the sweat.

I glanced at Hideo and Amagi and felt marginally better that they were in the same condition as I was.

"Stretch!"

I took one last gulp of water, set my canteen down and bend over to start my stretches. Hideo and Amagi were bent over too, the three of us doing the same stretches.

After a few minutes of stretches, my breathing had gotten back to something more normal.

"Academy katas, five through ten!" Baki yelled from the other side of the training field.

I groaned, but assumed the starting position of kata five. Around the mid point of eighth kata, I could hear Amagi muttering to himself. It was too low for me to catch more than a few phrases at a time.

"Stupid ass…. Easy like hell…. Bastard!"

I glanced over in Baki's direction and saw him give an evil smile. I groaned, this was not going to be good.

"Shut up, Amagi!" I hissed, "He can hear you!"

"What?" Amagi asked, looking over towards Baki and his evil smile. "Shit!"

"If I have to do more laps, I'm going to kill you," I hissed again.

"Sorry," Amagi whispered as we continued to the last kata.

Hideo, mostly keeping his voice down, "Would you two shut up! We will get in trouble and we are all going to pay for it!"

"Yes, Hideo," I said as we finished up the kata.

"You have a choice," Baki called, "We can either work on dodging or you can run some more."

Well that wasn't even a choice, of course I am choosing dodging. I don't want to run anymore!

And he knew it! Baki-sensei knew what we would choose, because his grin just got wider.

I look over at Hideo then over to Amagi. Both were wearing identical looks of horror. "Well I'm not saying it," I told them, "Hideo should do it."

Amagi nodded his head very fast.

"Why me?" Hideo asked.

"You are the oldest," I offer.

"You are our leader," Amagi added.

Hideo sighed, "Those answers suck."

"Yeah, well so do our choices," Amagi replied.

"Fine," Hideo sighed then raised his voice, "Let's work on dodging, Baki-sensei."

"Excellent," Baki said, "Follow me." He then turned and walked into the desert.

Hideo sighed and took off after our sensei. Amagi was right behind them. I looked longingly at my water canteen for a moment, before jogging after my teammates.

Baki stopped in front of three large sand pillars. They stood about one and a half meters tall and about half a meter square. The pillars were arranged in a triangle, with enough space between each pillar that a person could stand next to one pillar with arms out to the side without touching another pillar.

"Jump up, one person per pillar," Baki ordered.

I walked over to the pillar on the far left, Hideo took the pillar in the middle and Amagi took the final pillar on the right. We all jumped up.

My feet started to sink into the pillar as soon as they touched. Sending chakra to my feet and picking it up, I was able to stabilize myself, sort of. I wasn't sinking as quickly at least.

"Put chakra into your feet, like walking up the wall," I called out to my teammates.

Within a minute, we were all standing on top of the sand pillar, although calling it a pillar was being generous. It really was just a square of sand that was being held up somehow, but wasn't hard at all. Just loose sand standing upright in a pillar formation.

"Very good," Baki said.

Oh crap! I forgot about him. Then I remembered, we were here to dodge.

"Don't fall off the pillar. Only one person per pillar. Don't get hit," Baki's voice called out. "Break the rules, you all run sprint drills around the village."

"Don't..ah!" I screamed and ducked. Out of nowhere a kunai came flying at my head!

"A shinobi must be quiet, Tsukio!" Baki chided as he threw three more kunai at us.

Ducking, jumping, dodging from side to side while on a one half meter square, moving pillar that is one and a half meters tall is a lot harder than it looks. Trying not to fall down while throwing yourself out of the way of two sharp weapons, even harder. Doing all of that on a surface that is not stable at all, and the only thing keeping you from sinking into the sand is chakra on your feet. Well let's just say that it is near impossible. But never let it be said that my teammates and I were afraid of a challenge.

"Tsukio! Jump!" a voice yelled. I had a split second to look at the empty pillar where Hideo was supposed to be, registered that Amagi was the one yelling at me before I dove onto Hideo's pillar.

Landing on my hands and knees, I focus chakra into the points that are touching the sand to stabilize myself. I glance over and see Amagi teetering on the edge of my old pillar.

"Shit!" I pushed my body up so I was kneeling and flew through my hand signs as fast as I could. I pointed my hands at Amagi and used the air currents to force his body away from the edge of the pillar.

"Fireball jutsu!" Hideo called out.

I glanced over and saw a fireball bloom between Amagi and my pillar, partially covering us from Baki's view.

"Thanks," I call out before moving to stand up. I looked over and saw Amagi was standing firmly on his feet. I took a deep breath and readied for another round of dodging sharp objects being thrown at me. I hadn't finished my breath when I was again throwing myself around on the small pillar.

My world grew smaller and smaller focusing on staying on top of a sand pillar and not getting hit by the kunai being thrown around.

Dodge.

Duck.

Jump to a new pillar.

Repeat.

When one of us got too close to falling off our pillar, we would have to switch and the first person who was stable would throw out some sort of distraction so the other two could stabilize. This continued for years. My arms were weak. My legs could not make another jump. My stomach hurt from having to keep me stable.

No, I would not be the reason we failed!

"Very good," Baki called out. Kunai held in his hands, but down at his sides. "Come down and stretch."

I glanced at my teammates, Hideo shrugged and Amagi just waved his hand in a 'I'll follow you' motion. I nod and together we jump off the sand pillars, only to have them melt into the surrounding sand.

We walk over to Baki and start some more stretches.

"You all did very well. I was surprised to see you three working together to ensure that no one failed. Your use of jutsu, to save your teammates and as a distraction was good. You will need to work on your techniques, but you all have a good base for building more teamwork. I can even see you three having a combination jutsu attack."

I perk up at that, a jutsu combination attack was something we learned about in the academy. In other villages, like the Hidden Leaf village there were whole families, no clans, that worked together to make a combination jutsu. There was one they taught us, it involved three different families, no clans, and they have worked together for generations. I couldn't remember the name of them, but it was something people feared.

"Follow me," Baki called out. He walked back towards the training ground. Once we were there, he continued, "Drink lots of water, take a shower, get changed and meet me outside the locker room in twenty minutes. I will have your missions ready for you."

"Yes, sensei," we called out, grabbing our water canteens and rushing to the locker room.

Exactly nineteen minutes later, we were standing outside the locker room where Baki was waiting for us.

"Good. Now today you have two missions. They both involve painting, the first is the water tower and the second is to paint the main aqueduct. Which did you want to do first?"

"Do we have to paint the whole water tower?" I asked.

"Just the legs of the tower, the aqueduct stretches from the oasis all the way to the water treatment building." Baki answered.

"I think we should start with the tower," Hideo suggested.

"Why?" Amagi asked.

"The aqueduct goes from the oasis to the water treatment building, which means it goes down, so we could end this assignment on the ground instead of in the air."

I nod, "Good enough reason to start at the tower for me."

"Tower it is," Amagi agreed.

"Good, now for your extra training, you three will have to change your eye color. Nothing drastic, but something different than your own."

"Henge our eyes?" I asked.

"Eyes are one of the more difficult henges to perfect and maintain. Not only do you have to transform the color of your eyes, but you must remember that eyes never remain static in color. They change depending on your mood. So, you can't just change the color and be done with it. You must remember that if you are angry, your eyes will darken. If you are sleepy, you will need some extra veins in your eyes to make them look bloodshot. For now, I just want you to focus on changing the color. Keep it a static change for now. Because of the color changes that happen naturally with your eyes, you can't just put a different color over your current eye color and forget about it."

I nod, not really understanding, but convinced that I will eventually. I guess this means I will be spending more time looking at people's eyes. Henges are so much trouble, especially if you want to get them right. At least with hair you just had to worry about color and making sure you got every single strand of hair.

I focused my chakra and performed the hand signs before placing my hands over my eyes. The icy blue of my eyes bleed into a warm golden brown. I could feel the slight drain on my chakra, letting me know that I had completed the henge.

"For long term missions, contacts will be a better option especially if you can convincingly portray that you need the contacts to see. However this exercise will ensure that you can in fact hold a small henge for a considerable time. This will also help your chakra reserves to expand," Baki said as the boys finished their henges.

Amagi's brown eyes were suddenly black, which was very unnerving, while Hideo's eyes were a brilliant blue, like the summer sky. I noticed the boys were staring at me, staring at each other.

"Strange," Amagi said.

"Agreed," Hideo replied.

"Ready to go?" I asked, not feeling the need to say anything else.

"Let's go," Baki agreed and we walked out the building towards the water tower.

When we arrived at the water tower, there was a group of genin who milling around like sheep, while a smaller group of Jōnin were pointing at something, then pointing to the water tower.

"What do you think is going on?" I asked Hideo and Amagi.

Baki gave us a look that screamed "behave!" And walked over to the group of Jōnin.

"Does he think we are going to get into trouble?" I asked, offended that our sensei had obviously decided that we were a team of trouble makers.

"Well look who crawled out of the sand," a high pitch voice called out.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I muttered before plastering a smile on my face. "As I live and breathe, is that Saya? I thought you were with the puppet corps?" my voice saccharine sweet as I turned to face the one person I could happily never see again.

"I am!" Saya yelled, her high-pitched voice getting higher as she yelled at me. "However, I need to complete D-rank missions with a team so I can become a chūnin. You remember my teammates, don't you Tsukio?"

"Your team?" I asked, scared of the answer. No scratch that I was terrified that Saya was on a genin team with two other people. Was she going to corrupt them or was she going to destroy them?

"My teammates," Saya purred, "Sana and Mamushi. It is a shame that you couldn't be put on a team with your friends."

Before I could say anything, Baki walked back over to us, "There are currently four other teams who will be painting the water tower with us. Suna is expecting a group of shinobi from Konoha and Lord Kazekage wants the village to look its best."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means that the Jōnin will supervise the work, but no one will be given the completed mission report unless everyone finishes."

I sighed, "So if one team is doing most of the work, then this will take four times as long?"

"Pretty much," Hideo said.

"So how did you want to do this?" Amagi asked.

"Since there are four teams, the Jōnin have decided that each team should get a leg of the water tower. I want the three of you to divide the work evenly between the three of you. As one of you finishes feel free to help the other two, or you can get started on painting the aqueduct. So long as both missions are completed before dinner tonight, I will be satisfied."

"Yes, Baki-sensei," I said.

Baki nodded and walked back to the base of the water tower, setting out paint cans and paint brushes.

"How did you want to do this?" I asked Hideo.

Hideo studies the water tower, "It looks like there are three sets of braces on the legs, we could each paint a section of bracing. We can store the paint cans where the braces and the tower legs meet."

"The question is, how do we get to the top," Amagi interrupted.

"How did we get to the top of the Kage house yesterday?" Hideo fired back.

Amagi groaned.

I sighed.

"So, we divide up by the braces, we need to get all four sides of the legs, we have to do a good job and none of us get paid until every team has finished their part of the tower? Did I get it right?" I asked.

"Yep," Hideo said, "That sums it up. By the way, who were you talking to earlier?"

I sigh, this time full of frustration, "Her whole team and I were in the same Academy class. She is from an old shinobi family and would constantly pick on me and my friends because most of us came from a civilian family. She believes she is better than everyone because she is from an old family. Her team is full of people who like to be cruel, just because they can."

"Is she going to be a problem?" Amagi asked.

"I don't know, it depends on how much she wants to complete this mission. However, just to be on the safe side, I suggest we keep an eye on her and her team and try to keep apart from them."

Hideo nodded, "Did you want to take the middle section then?"

"Why the middle?"

"It will be easier for both Amagi and I to keep an eye on you to make sure she leaves you alone. Also you will be in the air, which should make it harder for her to talk to you."

I smile grateful, "Thank you, I would love to take the middle."

Amagi put his hand on my shoulder, "You are our teammate. Besides, if you drop out, then we don't get to participate in the chūnin exams."

I laugh, only partially sure he is joking. "Still, I appreciate it. If you get hungry, or thirsty, let me know, I have lots of canteens sealed and some snacks sealed away for us. I figured we would be hungry with this mission."

"Our goal is to be finished way before lunch, with the water tower?" Hideo asked.

"I think that is a good goal. So once one person is finished help the other two?" I asked.

"At least at first, we will see how it works when we get closer to the end," Amagi turned to face me, "Remember the mission, Tsukio. Remember our goal. Do not get distracted by the petty nature of that girl."

I nod, "Yes, Amagi."

Hideo smirked, "I'll take the top part, that way if you start to get drawn in, I will just drop paint on you."

My mouth falls open as I gasp, "You wouldn't!"

Hideo doesn't answer, but his lips are turned up in a downright evil smile.

"You know, you should stop hanging out in Interrogation as much, that smile could be a weapon," I complain as we walk to the leg Baki has set up for us.

"You have your plan?" Baki asked once we were standing next to him.

"Yes, sensei," we chorused.

"Good, now get started."

I picked up one of the cans of paint and tucked a paint brush into my belt. "Ready Hideo?" I asked, eager to get this mission completed so we can move onto the next piece.

"Oh before you three go, if you are going to pass out because of chakra exhaustion, I know you three used a lot this morning and it sounds like you will be using more for this mission. Drop the henge on your eyes, the last thing we need is for you to pass out because of chakra exhaustion and leave the team down one person to finish the missions," Baki paused before giving us a hard stare, "Understood?"

"Yes, Baki-sensei!" the three of us replied.

"Now go and paint this water tower."

I nodded and turned to watch Hideo start walking up the tower. He just put his foot flat against the leg and started walking up. I was just thinking of climbing, using the braces, but there was no way in hell I was going to let him show me up.

"Show off," Amagi muttered next to me.

"Agreed," I made sure my grip on the paint can was firm and concentrated chakra into my feet, "But we aren't going to let him show us up are we?"

Amagi grinned, "Hell no!"

I grinned at Amagi as I walked up the side of the water tower. Wedging the paint can into the small space between the leg of the tower and the cross brace, I pop the lid and quickly start painting. Thankfully we are in the shadow of the water tower for now, which helps keep the sun from burning us.

I listen to the bickering from the other teams with half an ear. Mostly I am concentrating on getting my part of the tower done so I can move onto the aqueduct. And I still must get some time to go and meet Isamu at the civilian school.

Despite popular belief, the buildings in Suna were not all made from dirt and mud bricks. Most were, because it is a very practical way to build the houses, it was a natural barrier to the heat and harsh winds that were the prominent weather features of the region. The water tower for example was made of metal for strength and the actual water reservoir was covered in a thin layer of mud and straw mixture that is dried on. This allows the mud mixture to help regulate the temperature inside the reservoir. Most of the important government buildings were reinforced with some metal and Interrogation is definitely reinforced.

The water tower had four legs that held the reservoir forty-three meters above the ground. Each leg had three cross braces to reinforce the strength of the whole structure. These legs and cross braces were made of metal, which meant as the day progressed, they were going to get hotter and hotter. Along the northernmost leg, there was a ladder that allowed access to the reservoir part of the tower. There was a small door along the north side to allow access to the inside of the reservoir which was emptied a few times a year so the reservoir could be cleaned and repaired if needed.

In the center of the reservoir, one on top and one on the bottom, were two pipes, one pipe, the one on top brought water in from the water treatment building and the other would distribute the water to the main aqueduct that fed the water to each section of the village. The water treatment building had two main sources of water, the first is the oasis that Suna was built near, the second was the infrequent rains we would get. When it did rain, huge pools would catch the rain, there was a complicated structure of pipes that would funnel water into the pools after a rain. What rain wasn't caught by the pipes would end up in the oasis anyway.

Painting my section of the leg was not that complicated, the most complicated piece was when I had to move around the wet paint to get the opposite side of the leg. Hideo and I were using chakra to stick our feet to the metal that was just thicker than our feet. The other genin teams were complaining and making this out to be a huge big deal. I was trying really hard not to roll my eyes, but really, how hard is it to paint just about fifteen meters? Yes, it is a pain, yes it is uncomfortable, but it needed to get done, it was the mission. Not to mention Lord Kazekage wanted it done!

"Water!" Baki's bark broke into my thoughts.

Automatically I reach for my canteen, my hands grabbing only air. I blink and look at the spot where my canteen is supposed to be. I look around for my canteen but I didn't find it.

"Tsukio? Do you still have your scroll?" Hideo asked from above me.

I look up at him, as I reach for my belt. My fingers find the scroll and I smile, "I do. Want some water?"

"Please," He says, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Okay," I make sure the paint can and paintbrush is secure, then I take a deep breath and jump down to the ground.

"Hi Amagi," I say as I near him.

"Hey Tsukio, giving us some water?"

"Do you want some?" I counter.

"Please," came the muffled reply as Amagi used his arm to wipe the sweat from his face.

"Hideo, come down and get some water, like Baki-sensei said," I called up to the top of our leg. I quickly set the scroll down and unsealed the water canteens I had there. Hideo jumped down on the other side of me and I passed a canteen to each of my teammates before drinking a gulp from my canteen. I pulled my forehead protector off and wiped the sweat from my face.

"How close are you to being finished?" Hideo asked?

"I have one more coat on each side before I do the cross braces," Amagi answered.

I groaned, "I finished my first coat and while that was drying in started on the front of cross braces."

"I have one coat on the cross braces to do and a little bit of touch up on the leg."

"Why are you so far ahead?" I asked.

Hideo gave me that smile adults give to kids when they are explaining something simple, "I currently am alone at the top of the tower, so I am not having to work around other people."

"Really?" I asked, glancing around. For the first time I noticed that all of the other teams are taking a water break in the shadow of the water tower. "Oh yeah, did you guys want a snack or something?"

"I could use a snack," Amagi said.

I unrolled my scroll some more and found what I was looking for, a quick swipe of my thumb filled with chakra and three bags popped out of the seal. "Chips okay with you?"

Amagi smiled, "Food is food. Give it here."

"Chips are not very healthy," Hideo admonished, while accepting the bag I held out to him.

I shrug, "The way I figure it, we are using a lot of calories just painting in the sun and I would rather have the calories from chips and be full until our next break, than be hungry because I didn't have enough calories."

"Listen to the girl, Hideo," Amagi laughed, "My roommate tells me that girls know all about calories because they are constantly trying to not have them."

Not even thinking about it, I take a handful of sand and throw it at Amagi, "Shut up! Does it look like I am trying to avoid calories?"

Amagi laughs and ducks out of the way, Hideo just shakes his head at the two of us.

Amagi and I seem to have developed a less hostile relationship, or at least one where he is not constantly trying to act better than me. Maybe he has decided that I am worth something, or maybe our shared goal is helping him get over this dislike of me.

"You should listen to your teammate, civilian. I mean you do look like you could lose a few pounds. No one wants to be teamed up with a fat girl who will slow them down," a hated, high pitched voice called out from behind me.

Amagi and Hideo's heads snap towards me. For a moment I had forgotten that the bitch Saya was also part of the teams painting. She had been so quiet, or at least I have been ignoring her the whole time. I watch as Amagi and Hideo stare at me, waiting to see what I will do next.

I paste a grin on my face and turn my head to look over at Saya, who has her doll out and is fixing her doll's hair. I deliberately make my voice cloy because I know it irritates her, "What you see isn't fat, Saya, this," I pointed to my upper body, specifically my chest, "is what happens when you stop being a little girl and you get an adult woman's body. Don't worry, you will get there soon, I'm sure."

Hideo choked on his mouthful of chips.

Amagi was wrecked by a sudden coughing fit.

Baki-sensei watched from the side, between where we sat and where Saya and her team were. I could be wrong, but I will swear that I saw his lips twitch.

"You bitch!" Saya shouted, her face turning bright red, I could almost see the steam coming out of her ears and the fire out of her eyes. With a flick of her wrist her doll started to run across the distance that separated us.

I swiftly moved to my feet, ready to meet the attack head on, although what I thought a small doll, no, the small puppet, would do, I have no idea. Call it instinct.

Amagi and Hideo stood up with me, slightly behind me but close enough our shoulders would touch if I leaned back a bit.

"Hold!" Baki barked, looking straight at me.

My hands fell back to my side, waiting for him to tell me what to do. I could hear the swooshing noise of Amagi and Hideo also dropping their hands. Meanwhile Saya's doll had also stopped moving and her team moved to stand slightly in front of her.

"Tsukio, Hideo, Amagi, your water break is over. Finish here, we have more that needs to be done."

I shoot a glare over to Saya and her team before saluting Baki-sensei, sealing my canteen back into my scroll, tying my forehead protector onto my belt and climbing back up to my spot on the water tower. I picked up the brush and started painting. Using the repetitive motion of the paint to sooth me.

Hideo hung down and helped me with the taller parts of the cross braces and gave me an encouraging smile. "You didn't start it, although you could have kept your mouth closed. I will admit it was funny the way her face turned red. Now all of the boys will be looking at her chest and compare it to yours or one of the other girls."

I shrug it off, "I don't care. You and Amagi don't treat me like a fragile flower like most guys at the Academy did, once I started to develop. As long as you keep doing that, I don't care what other people think."

"You might care once they start staring at your chest and not your face," Hideo cautioned.

"If they are looking at my chest, then they won't be noticing if my eyes are changing color the way they are supposed to, or they won't notice when you or Amagi slit their throats.," I reasoned.

Amagi, hearing that last part laughed, "Well she isn't wrong there, Hideo."

I roll my eyes, "Are you done, Hideo?"

Hideo nodded.

"Do you think you could help me with the top part of my section, not just the brace? That way I can finish my part faster," I asked.

"Sure," Hideo said and continued to paint.

With Hideo's help I was able to quickly finish my part. Hideo and I jumped down and went to help Amagi, who was having more trouble, simply because people kept getting in his way and he had to do more ducking and moving around the structure.

"Tsukio, I want you to go over and start on the aqueduct," Hideo murmured, glancing over at the area where Saya's team was. They were currently working on their second coat of paint. "I will stay behind and help Amagi and to make sure that no one messes with our paint job. Once we are released, we will come and get you and we will have lunch."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Amagi chimed in, "I am almost finished here. And it doesn't take two of us to make sure the other teams behave. One of us will come and help you before too much longer."

"Okay then," I say slowly. I put my paint brush down and walked over to Baki-sensei.

"Hideo is going to help Amagi finish up and I am going to start on the aqueduct," I report, standing with my back straight and my head held high.

"Is your portion of the mission complete?" Baki asked.

"Yes, Baki-sensei. Amagi only has a little left to complete, and there is not enough space for me to help. Therefore it was agreed that in order to complete both missions within the given timeframe, I should be the one to start working on the aqueduct."

Baki nodded, "Alright, I will accompany you to where you will start and make sure you have everything you need."

"Thank you, Baki-sensei."

Baki and I walked over to the boys, Baki quickly informed them of where he was going, but that he would be back. I used the time to unseal the rest of the water and a small bento filled with snacks and set them next to the boys.

"Here is more water and more snacks for you guys. Don't forget to share, Amagi."

"Do you have water for yourself?" Hideo asked.

"I have one canteen, I can fill it up while we walk."

"Okay, remember, lunch when we meet up again," Amagi said.

"I remember, Mother made bentos for all of us today."

"Tsukio! Let's go," Baki called from the street.

"Coming, sensei!" I called back as I ran to catch up to him. Giving one last look to my teammates from over my shoulder I made sure they were doing good, I hurried forward.

Baki led me further down the road to the water treatment building. He walked over to the biggest pipe and nodded to me. "Stay here while I find someone who can give us specific instructions."

"Yes, sensei."

I looked around for a place to fill my canteen, and not seeing one, I decided to wait on drinking the rest of my canteen.

Baki came back a few minutes later with more paint cans and more paint brushes. "The aqueduct has already been primed, so all you have to do is give the aqueduct one coat of paint. I would suggest that you do a single section of pipe all the way around then move onto the next section."

I nodded.

"Here," Baki held out a large sealed container, "Fill your canteen in this and have the boys do that when they get here. I am going to go and check on them."

"Yes, Baki-sensei," I unscrewed my canteen and opened the container, then I filled my canteen. I watched Baki turn around and walk back the way we came.

"Oh and Tsukio?" Baki called out.

"Yes, sensei?"

"Good job cutting Saya down, however next time, don't endanger the mission."

I perk up at his praise, but my happiness is cut short when he reminds me of the first shinobi rule. The mission always comes first.

"Yes, sensei," I say, looking up to see him walk away. I finished filling my canteen, recapped the container and took a sip of water. Looking over at the aqueduct, I picked up the paint brush and started to paint.

Stopping every section of pipe, I took a sip of water. After a while, I am not sure how much time passed, but I was able to paint the nine- and one-half section of the pipe before Hideo and Amagi came to join me.

"Everything went well?" I asked, putting my paint brush down and stretching my back.

"As well as can be expected," Hideo replied, "The tower is painted, and the teams were given the clearance to be done for the day. That Saya person was not happy that you left, and she tried to mess up the cross braces that you painted. However after we reminded her that all of us completing the mission is dependent on all of the tower being correct, she stopped."

Amagi grinned, "What Hideo means is that he threatened to burn her little puppet if she continued to throw dirt at the wet paint on the cross braces. Then Baki-sensei returned and told us that our part was good and we should help one of the other teams. If we could do that, he would recommend that we get a higher portion of the mission pay."

I laughed, "And did you?"

Hideo chuckled, "Of course we did. We basically finished the top portions of the tower, because most of the teams couldn't even use chakra to stay up there."

"Good for you guys," I bend down, pull out my scroll and unseal three bento boxes. "Lunch is served," I say, moving into the shade of a nearby building. I brought the container of water with me, "We can fill up the rest of the canteens after we eat, but if you need some more water, fill up with this."

We all sat in the shade and ate our lunch quietly.

"Tsukio, your henge is faded," Hideo pointed out while I was about half way through my bento.

"Oh," I reply and put more chakra into the henge on my eyes. "Do you think it is strange that no one has said anything about our eye color yet?"

"I don't," Amagi said, "most people don't pay that much attention to the color of the eyes, unless they need to know it for some reason. Besides, other than that fresh genin group, I didn't know anyone who was on that mission, so why would they think my eye color is wrong."

"Good point," I said.

Hideo glanced at the sun, "What time does your brother get out of school?"

"In four hours," I told him.

Hideo nods, "Then we don't have much time to get this done. We need to hurry."

"Baki-sensei said we only need to do one coat of paint. I was able to do ten before you arrived. I am sure we can finish this definitely before dinner, before Isamu gets out of school, if we hurry," I said.

"Then let's get started then." Amagi said, filling two canteens with water and setting them over on the side. "We can just keep moving the water down in the shade of the buildings, that way we don't have to worry about it getting too hot."

"Okay," I agree as I walk back to finish painting the section I was working on before we stopped for lunch.

We worked in silence for a while, just the normal sounds of the village, breaking the silence. I allowed my thoughts to wonder as we moved forward, each of us taking a section of pipe, painting it and moving to the next available section. It was tiring, to stand and move then do lots of bending to get the underside of the pipe. As we moved away from the water treatment building, the pipe began to get lower and lower to the ground. Making us have to bend closer and closer to the ground, to the point where we were kneeling on the hot sand to get to the parts we needed to paint.

Finally we reached the end of the above ground portions of the aqueduct. Hideo and I helped Amagi to paint the final section.

"Now what do we do?" Amagi asked.

I glance up at the sun, I have a little bit of time. "We could go back to the water treatment building and ask if our job was satisfactory."

Hideo nods, "We can also ask if Baki-sensei left any instructions for us when we are finished."

We walked along the aqueduct, my feet dragging a little. The heat was finally getting to me, as was the fact that I was in the sun the whole day. I was tired, between the early start, the difficult training session and the two missions, all I wanted to do was sleep. I let Hideo do the talking when we arrived at the building.

"We have reached the end of the above ground part of the aqueduct," Hideo reported to the person at the front desk.

"Oh, really? Already? I was sure that would take you at least another day," the woman said.

We just stared at her.

"Oh, let me give you your completed mission scroll," she pulled the red scroll out from a drawer in her desk. "Your sensei said to give you this when you were finished and to tell you to get something cold before you go to your brother's school. After you do that, you are to come to Kage tower and turn your mission in. I will meet you there," she read from a piece of paper attached to the outside of the scroll she handed Hideo.

My eyes widened at the message, Baki-sensei knew about my promise to meet my brother?

Hideo nodded, "Thank you," he turned and with a hand on each of our shoulders, he moved Amagi and I out the door. "You heard Baki-sensei, first we need to get something cold, any suggestions?"

"Shaved ice?" Amagi suggested.

"Tsukio?"

Shaved ice sounds good," I respond.

"What is with the face?" Amagi asked as we walked down to the shaved ice stand.

"What face?" I asked.

Amagi pointed at me, "That face!"

"I think what Amagi is asking, is what is bothering you?" Hideo clarified.

"Oh, I'm just surprised that Baki-sensei knew about me needing to meet with my brother today."

Amagi laughed, "This is Baki-sensei we are talking about, the sensei for the Sand Siblings and current advisor to Lord Hokage. I think he knows everything."

Hideo snickered, "Well not everything, but it shouldn't be a surprise that Baki-sensei knew. You were talking about it today after all."

I shrug, "I guess you're right, but it is still a little strange."

"We are shinobi, it is our job to figure out the things that people hide," Amagi offered.

"Okay, okay," I walk a little faster to the shaved ice stand.

We place our orders, I make sure to get one for Isamu and Takashi.

"What?" I asked at Hideo's raised eyebrow, "My brothers love shaved ice, it will be a nice treat for them." I asked the man behind the counter for a small box to carry all three in. He smiled at me and placed all five shaved ices into a cooling container.

Shaved ice in hand, the three of us walked down to the civilian school. It didn't take us long, so we stood next to the fence and took out our shaved ice and started to eat it.

"Mmm," Amagi moaned, "Shaved ice is so good!"

"Especially after a hot day doing missions in the sun," Hideo agreed.

I pause with my spoon halfway to my mouth, "Do you think we can drop the henge on our eyes now?"

Hideo also paused, "The mission is not technically over, but your brother will deficiently notice if your eyes are brown and not blue."

"Well I wouldn't risk it, you can just tell your brother that you are doing some training, which is true," Amagi offered.

I nod, letting the green tea flavored ice melt on my tongue, "I agree, besides this should only be a quick stop then we will go to Kage tower and our missions will be complete. Four missions down, sixteen more to go."

"Thank Kami for that!" Amagi replied. "I am ready to get some hard training done!"

I gasp, looking at him in shock, "What do you mean hard training? Are you saying that what we did this morning wasn't hard?"

Amagi rubbed the back of his neck, "Well it wasn't easy, but I would say that it could have been harder."

"Of course it could have been! Baki-senei said that he was taking it easy on us, or did you forget?!" I couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, well," Amagi blushed a little, "I am just saying, physical stuff is hard, but I want something more challenging. I want to learn more spy techniques, more jutsus to be able to grab information, or even just ways to interrogate someone."

Hideo nodded, "While I agree with wanting to progress in more than just physical readiness, we did agree that we would focus on D-rank missions and getting our physical selves into shape, before we move onto more complicated things. We also will be spending one day at Intel or Interrogation each week to start learning. These things take time."

"Yeah, well, I am just ready to move on, that is all I'm saying."

The bell rang and the doors flew open a few seconds later. School was out. I stood up and looked around for either of my brothers. I saw Takashi first, he was talking to a boy with black hair, Takashi's hands were moving quickly and enthusiastically, so it must have been a good story.

Isamu arrived not even a minute later, his head down and he was shuffling his feet. I took one step towards him, when a kid with dark blond hair came running up behind him and shoved my little brother!

I dropped my shaved ice and raced over, pushing every bit of speed I could. I caught my brother just before he hit the ground.

"Tsukio!" Isamu cried out when he saw who had him, "You came!"

"Of course I came, silly little brother," I knew I was giving my brother a very soft smile, the one I reserved for him. "Sensei was nice enough to let me come and see you between missions." I could feel the smile drop as I looked up at the blond who was standing behind my brother, his mouth open in shock. "And who might you be?" My voice was slightly warmer than the shaved ice I had been eating prior.

Takashi answered for the boy, "That is Shin, he lives at the end of our street."

"Really? So since we are neighbors, I can safely assume that you running into my brother was just an accident, that you just were not looking at where you were going? Am I safe to assume that?"

A dark chuckle comes from behind me, I glance at it quickly and see the Amagi and Hideo following me and watching my back. Hideo's face was a blank mask, while Amagi's face was pinched, his eyes were narrowed as he stared at Shin. Amagi was the one who gave the dark and scary chuckle.

Shin looked from me, to the two boys standing behind me and back at Isamu, "An accident, of course. I wasn't looking where I was going."

I feel my lips lift in a smile that had too many teeth showing to really be called a smile and nodded, "Very good. I would hate for something to happen to my brother, especially while I am out on missions, protecting the village."

Isamu picked this moment to pipe in, "Maybe one of your missions will be to protect Shin's father's caravan. He deals with artists and their pottery goods."

I look over at Shin and see that he has gotten slightly paler, "I could, but you know I have no control over which missions I'm assigned so it will be up to fate if I end up watching a caravan or two." I stared at Shin, hoping I wouldn't have to threaten a child, especially since that threat would be an empty one, since I was not going to forget the first rule. As I watched Shin get even paler, I decided that I didn't need to threaten him, so I gently moved Isamu back to his feet and got on my feet.

"I have to go, but I brought you guys some shaved ice to eat on the way home. Don't tell Mother though. I don't want to get into trouble because you two ruined your dinner."

Isamu's face lit up, "Will you be home for dinner?"

"I don't know, it depends on if I'm given another mission or if sensei needs us to work on something."

Isamu's smile fell just a fraction, "Okay, being a ninja is hard work."

I ruffled his hair, "Anything is hard work if you wish to be the best." I turn to Takashi who is holding the box of shaved ice, "I'll see you two later. Go straight home, since I already brought you your treat."

Takashi smiled and leaned against me briefly, the closest I would get to a hug because we were in public, "Yes, Tsukio. I hope the rest of your day goes well."

"Me too, little brother, me too." I told him as the group of us walked out of the school's yard. I then watched as my brothers headed towards home, only then did I walk towards Kage tower.

"Think that kid is going to pick on your brothers again?" Amagi asked.

"I have no idea, but with the unspoken threat of us guarding his father's caravan, it could be enough to keep him in line."

"Or it could be enough for him to tell his dad of the unspoken threat and his dad uses a different hidden village for his protection needs." Hideo said.

"True, but the threat was unspoken, so it isn't like Shin could prove anything," I said.

Hideo nodded, "Let's go turn these missions in."

We walked quickly to Kage tower, after looking around the mission room and not seeing our sensei, we quickly got in line to turn our mission in. After handing it over to the chūnin behind the desk and we were given our pay slips, we walked out of the mission room.

"Do we look for him?" I asked.

"Where would we start?" Amagi countered.

I look around, not seeing anyone, I shrug, "Well we could see if one of the secretaries on the other floors have seen sensei."

"Baki-sensei said he would meet us here," Hideo pointed out.

"So you want to wait here for him?" I asked.

"Well not really, I want to take a shower and get all of this paint off of me, but I also don't want to screw this up."

"Well how about we only ask the secretaries on the second and third floor, if we see any, then we can come right back," I offered. "That way we don't have to wonder too far and Baki-sensei will be able to find us if he shows up while we are upstairs."

Hideo didn't look convinced.

"I'll take the full blame for not being right here when he shows up," I offered.

A huge sigh came from Hideo, but he didn't say anything else when I started to move towards the stairs.

The first secretary didn't have a clue, the second said she saw Baki-sensei going to the Kage's office.

"Did we want to go upstairs?" I asked.

Tsukio!" A voice called from behind the two boys I was talking to. I leaned over and saw Matsuri standing in the hallway behind us. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for Baki-sensei, he said to meet him at Kage tower, but he didn't say where in the tower," I answered.

Matsuri grinned, "Well he was in Gaara-sensei's office just a moment ago, did you want me to run up and see where he wants to meet you all?"

"If it isn't inconvenient for you," Hideo answered.

"No problem, I'll be back in a second," and Matsuri ran up the stairs. Less than five minutes later, she returned, "You can meet him upstairs, he is just helping Gaara-sensei with some paperwork."

"Thanks Matsuri!" I said as my teammates and I moved towards the stairs.

At Lord Kazekage's office, we found the door open and no one at the desk. Amagi shoved me towards the open door, which is how I ended up going into the Kage's office head first with my arms flailing around me like a windmill.

I shot a glare over my shoulder to the grinning madly Amagi, then I stood straight up and looked around the room.

I gulped.

I was the center of attention by three sets of eyes. One black, one teal and one green. I summon a smile and wave, "Hi Baki-sensei. We have finished our missions like you said and are here as requested."

Behind me I can hear the rustle of clothing as Hideo and Amagi walk to stand next to me.

"Very good," Baki said, walking out from behind the desk. "You may drop your henges."

I heard the sigh of relief from Amagi. I managed to stifle mine, I was running dangerously low on chakra at this point.

"Amagi, Hideo you have the rest of the day to move into your new quarters, the chūnin at the main desk will have your new room assignments for you. Just clear out your rooms, a group of genin have already been assigned to clean your rooms. As for the three man rooms, there are currently none available, but there should be one in about six months. Tsukio, you have six months to do whatever it is you need to do, in order to move into that room when it becomes available."

I bow, "Yes, sensei."

The boys also bow, "Yes, sensei."

"Good, you are dismissed for the rest of the evening. We will meet at the same place, same time tomorrow."

"Yes, sensei," we chorused before turning around and walking away.

"Are you sure they are the right team for the job? They are young," Temari's voice could be heard behind us.

"They will be perfect. Baki has the rest of the month to get them in shape, besides it is only escort duty when you are not available. Or since you and that Nara kid will be doing most of the work, they can show the others around," Lord Kazekage replied in his monotone voice.

"Don't worry, Lady Temari, my team will be ready for this mission. They are ready for it now, because of Tsukio's experience with the different merchants and dignitaries her father comes into contact with. This time will ensure they build a foundation of trust and will be able to follow Tsukio's lead if needed." Baki-sensei said.

"Tsukio!" hissed Hideo. I looked over and only then noticed that I stopped walking and hurried across the floor to where my teammates were standing.

We walked down the stairs, "Do you want or need my help moving?" I asked.

Hideo shook his head, "I don't have that much stuff to move, since the furniture normally stays in the room."

"I could use the help," Amagi said, "I don't have a good bag to put my stuff in."

Hideo frowned, "You need a backpack or something to take with us when we are out of the village."

"I know, and I'm going to buy one, I just need a couple more missions to be able to afford a new one."

I smile, "Well when you go looking for one, bring me with you, I can get you a good deal. For now, let's get your stuff moved. Besides this way I can see where you two are and come find you."

We made our way to the barracks, stopping briefly at the main desk to get their new room assignments.

"Third floor, last door on the left, before you get to the back stairwell."

The three of us walked up the stairs to the third floor and then down the hall. Hideo slaps a piece of paper on the door, a pulse of chakra and then the door opens.

"We will have to add our chakra to the locks," Hideo said as he walked through the door.

I grinned at his back as I followed.

"Look at this!" Amagi whispered as he walked in the room.

We walked into the main room. On the left is the living room, with two couches, a television on a small bookshelf, and a small coffee table. To the right was the kitchen with a small table and four chairs. Straight in front of us was a small hallway that led to a bathroom and the two bedrooms. Hideo and Amagi walked straight to the bedrooms, to claim the room they wanted, while I explored the kitchen. There were some basic pots, pans and two plastic sets of dishes. Two full sets of silverware and a small pile of mismatched chopsticks were in one of the drawers.

"So I get the first room if you want the second," Hideo was saying as the two came back to the front of the room.

"You will need some more cooking things and some other dishes. Also food," I tell them.

"Let's just start getting our stuff up here," Amagi said.

I walked to the door, "Lead the way, Amagi." I pull out the scroll that held our lunch and the canteens, "We can put some of your stuff into this scroll which will make it easier to move, Amagi," I glanced over at Hideo, "I can easily bring you the scroll to help out if you want the extra room."

"Let's see how it looks after you are done with Amagi, I have most of my stuff already packed up in boxes and bags."

"Okay," I give Hideo a big smile and walk out the door, "Let's get started!"

I followed as Amagi walked to the stairs and went down one floor. He opened a door in the middle and we walked in. I paused as soon as I walked in. The room was clean, but there was a smell coming from the other room that made me want to gag.

Amagi looked over at me, "Breath through your mouth, in short breaths."

I stare at him, "Is that your roommate?"

Amagi nodded.

"Lets get your stuff out of here now!" We walked to the right and Amagi's room looked like a wind storm had come through.

"Are you kidding me?!" he snarled.

"What happened?"

Amagi turned to glare at the closed door, "It would appear that my roommate was looking for something and thought I might have it."

I turn to look at the closed door, "Does your roommate do this often?"

Amagi nodded.

I pull my scroll out and unroll the whole thing. I then pull out a small brush and a bottle of ink, "You just have clothes in here, right?"

"I do."

"Good," I concentrate on getting the seal right, I don't want to seal his clothes and not be able to get them out.

Amagi started to fold his clothes and make a neat pile of them. I glance up from my sealing and frown, Amagi doesn't have a lot of clothes, it looks like he has four shirts, four sets of pants, one pair of sandals and a full set of mesh armor.

"There," I say, moving my brush away from the paper, "It should dry in a moment. Do you have anything in the kitchen that you want to take with you?"

"Where are you going?" a low aggressive voice asked from the kitchen area.

Amagi paled, just a little bit. So I stood up and turned around. I wanted to be on my feet if we were about to fight.

In front of me was a boy who had an orange stripe across the bridge of his nose, long light brown hair with two bangs falling over his forehead protector. He was wearing a yellow scarf a black shirt with gray triangles and light colored shorts

I give the boy a smile, "Hi, I'm Amagi's teammate and because of that, we are moving into a different set of rooms."

The boy stared at me, his dark colored eyes narrowing slightly.

"So Amagi, you have a little girl as your teammate?"

I could feel myself bristling with anger, I was tired of being insulted, I was called fat, I was called childish, my baby brother was being bullied and now Amagi's roommate, whom Amagi does not like and might fear a little, just called me a little girl!

I glanced at Amagi over my shoulder, he shook his head slightly, I wasn't sure if that meant not to get into a fight, or just to keep quiet. Well the first was an option for now, however, I was not going to keep quiet! Amagi should know this by now, I mean he did see me in action twice today.

So I paste a shy smile on my face, "Well I don't know about the little part, but I am a girl. And yes, I am Amagi's teammate."

Amagi's roommate glared at Amagi, "So you thought it was okay for you to move out without even telling me?"

"Well since we were just told less than an hour ago that the rooms were available, I would say Amagi didn't have the chance too," I replied cheekily. "However, now that you are here, you can help us pack up this scroll."

The roommate's gaze turns towards the blank scroll at my feet, "What do you have there?"

I shrug, "A scroll, what does it look like?"

I could hear Amagi's quickly in drawn breath, but I ignored him as I waited for his roommate to say something. I could feel my blood start to pump, my breath quicken a little as I prepared myself for a fight. After all I had to deal with today, I could really use a good old fashion fight.

"I think I want it," the roommate replied, taking a step towards me.

I took a step towards him, more to the point, I took a step and stood in front of my scroll, "You can get your own," I replied.

"I don't want a different one, I want that one."

"Well this one is mine, so you have to get your own," I responded, keeping my tone matter of fact.

The roommate took another step forward, "Not if I take it."

I shrugged, trying to look like I didn't care, but he is bigger than I am by at least half a foot, and I know he outweighs me by at least fifty pounds, this was not going to be an easy fight, that is for sure.

Amagi stepped right behind me and spoke with the smallest of whispers, "You don't want to fight him, Tsukio, let's just get out of here."

I nod, turning my head slightly to look at him, but also keeping his soon to be ex roommate in view, "Put your stuff on the scroll and I can seal it if you want me to."

I feel more than see, Amagi nod his head. I hear the swish of clothing as he moves away from me and I hear him pick up his other clothes. I kept an eye on his roommate, as he watched Amagi place his stuff on the scroll. Amagi tapped my leg and I took a step back, over the pile of clothes on the scroll. This time I bit my thumb, smeared some blood on the scroll and pushed with my chakra to activate it.

I was suddenly grateful that I created that seal to be blood activated and not just chakra. I watched as the pile of clothes, armor and sandals disappeared into the scroll and the seal completed itself.

I rolled the scroll up, tucked it into my belt and looked over at Amagi, "Do you have anything in the kitchen that is yours and you want to take with you?"

Amagi shook his head quickly.

"Let's go then," I took a step towards the door with Amagi right next to me.

The roommate held his hand out, "Where do you think you are going?"

I looked at him, "To our new room, I thought you understood that. Did my words confuse you?"

I watched as his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, "Why does Amagi get a new room? Is he unhappy with his current room?"

I shrug, "Our sensei put our team into a team room and told us we had until curfew tonight to move in. If you have a problem with it, you should take it up with our sensei."

"And who is your sensei?" he sneered.

I grinned as Hideo appeared in the door behind the roommate, "Hideo! Did you come to help us too?" I asked, making sure to pitch my voice to be higher than normal, trying to sound younger than I really was. It is also the voice I use when I really want Father to do something, or when I am trying to get out of having to do something a random adult wants me to do.

Hideo looked around the room, I could see the small frown starting to form between his eyebrows, "I did," he said slowly.

"Great!" I cried out.

The roommate looks over and his whole body straightens up and his shoulders go back, "Hideo, huh, are you part of Amagi's team?"

Hideo nodded, "Yes, Sajin, I am."

Sajin, nice to have a name with the face.

"Come on you two, we don't have long before curfew, and I still need to go and get some groceries," Hideo called out.

Amagi and I quickly walked around Sajin and Hideo.

"Great! I need to pick up a few things for dinner and breakfast anyway," I said excitedly.

The three of us walked out the door and down the hall. I walked between Amagi, in the front, and Hideo taking up the rear.

"Is he following us?" I asked.

"He is. Amagi is he a friend?" Hideo asked.

"No," came the short reply.

"Then let's head down my old apartment, we can leave through the window and sneak up to our new place," Hideo said.

"Sounds good. If needs be I can make lots of noise to distract him from your leaving," I offered.

"You have my stuff though," Amagi said.

We walked down to Hideo's room and walked in.

"I will need to use my blood to unseal it, I wasn't sure if you wanted Sajin to know that you could use a sealing scroll," I glance at the door, "If you want, I can give you the scroll and then I'll go out and make noise, say you two are making me go shopping because 'girls have to cook' or something like that while you two go out the window, or something."

Hideo nods, "Are you sure you want to get involved? Sajin is not a person you want as an enemy."

Amagi nods his head quickly.

"I'm not worried, besides, he sees me as nothing but a little girl. I don't think he knows my name. If he tries to follow me back to your new rooms, he will be upset because I am about to go on a crazy long shopping trip. Not only to get you guys some food, but also to see if I have some things in storage that you two could use."

Amagi frowned, "We don't want your charity."

I wave away his concern, "I didn't say I was actually going to get those things, but only that I was going to look like I was doing it," I pause for a moment, trying to figure out how to ask about the whole food shopping thing, "Why don't you two give me a list of things you need to have for tonight and tomorrow morning, so it looks like I am actually doing something."

"Good idea," Hideo said.

I felt a zip of happiness shoot through my body when Amagi nodded as well.

"How about some takeout for dinner and something easy for breakfast?" Amagi suggested.

I wrinkled my forehead as I tried to come up with an easy breakfast, "How well do you two cook?"

"I cook okay," Hideo replied.

"I cook okay too," Amagi agreed.

I nod, "Then rice with egg and some chicken?"

"If you get extra takeout chicken then we can just use that," Amagi said.

I nod again, "Is there a spending limit?"

Hideo reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of bills, "This should cover most, if not all of it. Just bring me the receipt and I will cover the rest."

Amagi frowned, "What that doesn't cover, I'll pay for. We are both going to eat it, so we should both pay for it."

Hideo shrugged in response.

"Okay, I will be loud enough that it should cover any noises you make."

I walk out the door after handing Amagi the scroll with his stuff in it. I found Sajin standing in front of me. "Hi, Sajin. Can I help you with something?"

Sajin sneered, "What are you doing?"

"The boys are making me go and buy some food while they do boy stuff. Apparently, since I'm the girl, I have to do the shopping and cooking," I roll my eyes, keeping my voice high pitched and loud.

"So you don't have your fancy scrolls anymore?"

I tilt my head, "What do you mean, fancy scrolls?"

"The scroll that you hide all of Amagi's stuff in."

"Oh that scroll, no I don't have it any more, I gave it to Amagi. You know since it is his stuff." Oh gag me, this talking like I was a stupid genin was going to kill me long before Sajin gets a chance to. "But anyway, I have to go so I don't get into trouble and miss curfew."

I moved to the left to walk around Sajin.

Sajin moved to block me.

I moved to the right of the hallway.

Sajin moved to block me again.

I started to move to the left and when Sajin moved to block me again, I twisted in a tight circle and moved around him. Then I started to run as fast as I could, out of the building with Sajin on my heels, I dodged around people and headed towards the civilian market area. I darted into the first grocery store that I came across, that I knew the owners of and ducked behind the counter.

"Tsukio? What are you doing?"

Panting I answer, "I am playing a game of ninja," lying through my teeth, keeping my voice as low as I can, "I am just going to catch my breath for a minute and then I'll be on my way."

The older woman behind the counter smiled indulgently at me, "Of course dear, just stay there and I'll watch out for you."

I looked down to hide my grin, I knew she would help me.

After about five minutes, I stood up, picked up a few things to help the boys get settled in their room, making sure to spend well below what Hideo gave me and walked to the nearest takeout place. Turned out to be a tempura stand, so I got lots of vegetables, chicken and some dipping sauce to go with it. I was able to walk back to the barracks with no problems and I walked straight up to my teammates' new room. Hideo opened the door and after a quick look around, he let me in.

I put the food on the counter, unsealed Amagi's stuff from the scroll and I helped the two boys move the furniture around until they had it the way they wanted it. I joined them for dinner, then I went home. I took a shower and fell into bed. I was officially tired. As I fell asleep it occurred to me that I didn't even talk to Mother about me moving into the barracks.

 **AN: Tada! Our team is now working towards their goals! I'm so excited to be at this part. Now we get to experience all the different missions they have to complete.**

 **Welcome to all the new readers! I hope you enjoy my little story world. Please let me know what you think.**


	15. Messenger Missions and Making Maps

I was at the training grounds before six. I made sure to show up a little early so I could get some extra stretching in, a little longer warm up. I was sore, really, really sore.

Amagi and Hideo arrived at the same time, both grunted in response to my "Morning." I decided they must not be morning people.

Baki-sensei arrived with a grin on his face. "Today your warm-up is to run around the village without letting your feet touch the ground. This includes the plateau behind you. Follow me," Baki took off at a jog to one of the guard posts near the training grounds. We walked through the tunnel that connected the guard post to the village. Where we exited at another guard post. Baki then led us to the small building and pointed, "Start here."

I looked up, took a deep breath and jumped onto the building, Hideo and Amagi right behind me. We took off at a jog, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, making our way along walls and basically just moving forward.

After we made it around the village, Baki-sensei took us back to the training ground and had us work on sparing. We would take turns, first Baki and Hideo would spar, then it was my turn with Amagi. We took a small break then it was me versus Baki and Hideo versus Amagi. After another break I was sparring with Hideo and Baki was against Amagi.

At the end, I couldn't feel my arms and my legs, again.

However Baki gave all of us things to work on, gave advice on how to get our taijutsu up to snuff and even gave us the names of other shinobi that he would like us to get some private training from. Or at least some ideas of how to implement some of their styles into our own.

"Take a shower and meet me at the desk for your missions today."

The best sentence in the history of sentences, as far as I was concerned. It meant I had thirty minutes of not wanting to die with exhaustion. I took a quick shower, this time washing my hair because I had lots of sand in it. I put some clean clothes on and divided my hair in half and put my hair into two braids, this way it would dry faster. I opened a small bag of dried fruit and walked out to the desk.

Hideo and Amagi were there, I offered them some of my fruit and we waited for Baki.

"Today your missions are easy. There are three messenger missions, one for each of you. Hideo, you are to pick up the reports from the water treatment building. Amagi, you are to get the latest scouting reports from the eastern and western guard stations. Tsukio, you are to get the reports from the agricultural liaison. For this, you three will not be pretending to be civilians, but you will need to look different. Either through makeup or clothes, or a combination of the two."

Baki turned and picked up a box that was sitting on the desk hands it to me. Then picks up another box, hands it to Amagi and does the same for Hideo. "Inside you will find some things you can use. You have some clothes and some different make up choices. Take about twenty minutes to change your appearance and meet me back here and I will give you your mission scrolls."

The three of us nodded and we walked back into the locker room.

Inside my box was a black short sleeved dress that reached to mid thigh, a long brown robe with large bell sleeves and a black fitted top and a pair of pants. I grabbed the dress, since that was the least like what I was currently wearing and took it with me to the girls shower area. I changed into the dress and frowned at myself in the mirror. I didn't look that different. So I unbound my chest, leaving my sports bra on. I then took my hair out of the braids and put it into a high ponytail. I walked back to the box, pulled out one of the small makeup sets and put some pink on my lips, and some copper color around my eyes, and a little black eyeliner. I tie my forehead protector loosely around my neck and my new look is complete.

I walk out to the desk and find Amagi and Hideo already there.

Amagi put more makeup on, this time it was purple, his lips were painted and his had squares around his eyes, with a line that connected the two boxes across his nose, almost making them look like glasses. He changed into a simple dark blue short sleeved shirt and black pants. His weapons pouch on this leg and his belt higher on his waist. His forehead protector was around his forehead.

Hideo was wearing an outfit similar to the one from our first mission, a high necked green vest with a brown short sleeved shirt under it and matching brown pants. He also had his weapons pouch on his right leg and his forehead protector was wrapped around his left arm.

Baki looked at us, "Tsukio, can you henge your hair into a different color?"

"Yes, sensei. Would you like me to blend in more, or just be different?"

"Different, I think."

I concentrate, my hands flash through the necessary hand signs, at this point I am close to having them as muscle memory. I run my hands over my hair, as I do the color lightens to a very light blonde, almost white color.

Baki nods as he sees the new color. "Very good. Now you three, here are your mission scrolls. You need to finish these fast, you have an appointment with your first instructor for Intelligence. When you have completed your mission, meet back here and the three of you will turn in the scrolls together. Understood?"

"Yes, sensei!"

"Now go and do your missions."

We turned and walked out the door. I opened my scroll as soon as we got onto the street to make sure I knew where I was going, "Baki-sensei said I was going to the agricultural building, right?"

"Yes," Hideo said.

"I have the scroll for scout reports."

Hideo and Amagi quickly opened their scrolls and saw that they also had the wrong scrolls.

"Do we do what he said? Or follow the scroll he gave us?" I asked.

"The one he said, I didn't see him look at the scrolls, but that is the mission we were given." Amagi said.

I nodded and held out my scroll, "Here you are Amagi."

Hideo handed me the scroll he was holding and I turned around and walked to the agricultural building. This was an easy mission, I just had to not act like me. Which for me, meant acting older, lowering my voice a little and talking like I had a sore throat, Ameno swore that it sounded husky, but to me it just sounded silly.

I finished my mission and made my way back to the Intel building. While walking, I started thinking about the first day in Intelligence. From what I heard in the little we talked about in the lesion about the different divisions of the shinobi jobs available.

I walked into the building to find Amagi there, but not Hideo. I sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out a small scroll that Ameno handed me with my medical kit. It was a basic course on how to use everything in the kit she made for us, including how to administer the chloroform. I had read it before, but it never hurts to refresh my memory.

It wasn't long before Hideo showed up and the three of us walked over to Kage tower and handed in our mission scrolls.

"Mother wants me to invite you two over for dinner tonight," I mention as we walk back to the Intel building.

"Why?" Amagi asked.

I shrugged, "I think she is convinced that if you come over for dinner we are not doing anything inappropriate, or it could be her way of making sure I am safe, or it could just be that she wants to get to know you two. I do talk about the two of you a lot," I waved to Matsuri as we passed her putting up a new sign on one of the shops while the shopkeeper watched her like a hawk. "Mother wants you to come over for dinner and bring your aunt," I called up to her.

"If I'm done by dinner, then sure. One of us should stop by Auntie's shop and tell her," Matsuri called out.

"Mother said she would take care of it."

"Oh, good, then yes, if I'm done I will happily come for dinner."

"See you then," I waved as we continued walking. "See, you won't be the only ones there. To be honest, I think Mother misses Father and wants to surround herself with people."

"Is you dad out of town?" Amagi asked.

"Yep, Father and Takashi are out on a trip to the capital. I'm sure that means I will be getting a gift from the daimyo again soon." I give a huge sigh of frustration. "So long as it isn't another marriage proposal, I will be okay with it."

"The daimyo proposes marriage to you?" Hideo asked shocked.

"Not for himself, it started with marriage proposals from other merchants, to lower nobility. If it goes up to one of his sons, then I know it will be difficult to get Mother to say no."

"Do you want to get married?" Amagi asked.

"No!" I yell, "I am going to be a Shinobi of the Sand Village that is part of Team Baki who puts fear into anyone who hears our name!"

Amagi nodded, "Good, because I would hate to think we are wasting our time."

I was laughing as we walked into the building, where Baki-sensei was waiting for us.

"Today you three are going to learn the basics of cartography. This is a very useful skill, especially for you three, since you may need to go scout someplace and be able to recreate the layout of the building exactly," Baki said. "Or a village, or a path through someplace. It is important to have a good memory for this, which is why three are starting with this, instead of something more difficult."

"Follow me," Baki said as he walked upstairs to the second floor. "Unless told otherwise, this room will be considered your classroom. When you are learning from Intel for the afternoon, you will come here at the appointed time. You will address your teachers as Sensei. Understood?"

"Yes, Baki-sensei," we said.

"Good, stay here until your instructor arrives," having finished his command, Baki walked out the door and closed it behind him.

I look around, this room has three desks, a large table in the front and one in the back of the room. The table in front was covered in papers, but I wasn't going to go over and look at them. There was a stool next to the table in front and the walls were covered in cork boards and white boards with pens to write with next to the boards.

I sat down at one of the desks and found a small basket of pencils, pens, brushes and a small bottle of ink. I looked around for paper, but didn't see any, well other than what is on the table in front.

"Think about dinner, okay," I tell the boys, "You won't be the only ones there and it is supposed to be a relaxing dinner. Mother said something about barbecue takeout."

The door opened before the boys could speak. In walked a woman with long dark brown hair. She was wearing the traditional sand shinobi uniform, including the vest. Her forehead protector was around her neck.

"Alright you three, I'm going to teach you about cartography, or making maps. While this is not something normally taught like this, due to the nature of your team, it is important that you three get more than the basics taught at the Academy." The dark haired sensei stopped next to the table and waved her hands, "Come over here, I can't show you how to create a map from memory if you can't see what I'm doing."

I walk over to the table and look down. On the table was a detailed map of Sunagakure. The buildings were marked out with small squares, and some of them had numbers or symbols attached to them.

"This is Suna as it looks right now. This map is kept up to date and should be memorized by all shinobi. However, most just worry about this map," Sensei moved the map and revealed another map, but this one didn't have buildings marked, unless they were the buildings with numbers or symbols on them. The map was also divided into eight sections, with Kage tower as the center point. "This map is the map used whenever there is something happening within the village. For instance, if there is an attack on Suna, we are able to put people in the place according to this map. It also ensures the even distribution of manpower if needed," she stabbed the map with her index finger, "Memorize this map!"

"Yes, sensei," we responded.

"Now," she moved that map and showed a blank piece of paper, "You three are to recreate as much of this building as you can." She pulled out a basket of pens and pencils. "Don't worry about scale right now, just recreate this building. Focus on the rooms, exits and windows," Sensei moved over to one of the desks and flopped into the chair, "You have one hour, starting now."

We looked at each other and each of us picked up a pencil.

"This is the ground floor," I said, drawing a large rectangle, then moving drawing the long hallway into the cliffs, making another rectangle for the locker room. "Do either of you remember how many doors in the hallway?"

"Nine on the side with the locker room and twelve on the other," Amagi replied.

I nod and fill in the doors.

Amagi adds the numerous staircases on the first floor. Hideo starts to draw the second floor.

Slowly we map out the building as we remember it. I am not a lot of help, because I have only seen the first floor and parts of the second and third, but I do try.

"Times up," sensei called out exactly one hour after we started. She walked over and looked over our map.

It was largely unfinished, simply because we hadn't been in many of the rooms, but the rooms we had been in, we made sure were accurate. There are lots of doors in a hallway without many rooms behind them. We knew there were more than three floors up and at least two floors underground, but none of us had done much exploring down there.

"Very good," sensei said, "Now tell me why you didn't add anything, even make assumptions about the building. There are doors, therefore there must be a room behind the door, so why not make one?"

Amagi and I looked at Hideo, he was the oldest and our leader, so he could answer.

"We haven't seen all of the rooms in this building. To assume there is a room behind each door is sloppy, especially when it could easily be a supply closet and not a real room, or the room could have multiple exits such as this room. It has a door to the hallway and a door going in that direction, which I think is another room, however we are not sure."

"Good. What you don't know is just as important as what you do know. By marking what you do know, you can verbally discuss the things you think you know, or mark them in a different color. Now I want you three to walk this hallway, open all the doors you can and see what you can find. You have five minutes. Go!"

Amagi and I ran towards the main door while Hideo ran towards the other door in the room.

"You take left, I'll go right?" Amagi asks as we burst through the door.

"Okay."

I turn left and run down the hallway opening every door I see. I see Hideo behind the first door, so I quickly switch to the other side of the hallway and continue running down the hallway, opening doors, taking a quick glance inside before moving to the next one. Hideo came out of a room, about three doors from our classroom and started to run down the hallway and looking in doors, like Amagi and me.

"Time!" sensei yells from the classroom, I am not sure what else to call it, but it seems to work for now.

We troop back in, and she points to the map we made, "Now fill in this floor, you have ten minutes."

I grab the nearest pencil and quickly start filling in the rooms I saw, I was able to make it to the end of the hallway, which meant I had eight rooms to fill in. Only half of the rooms had any exit other than the original door I walked in. I made sure to make those as well. I saw Amagi and Hideo doing the same.

"Time's up. Now lets see how well you did," sensei walked up to the table and examined our map. "Nice job. You focused on exits and windows. What made you decide the doors lead to other rooms?"

My throat is suddenly dry at her sharp tone. I reflexively swallow to wet my mouth and throat before I speak, "The doors that connect the rooms open in the same direction, which lead me to conclude that it was the same door and not two different doors."

"Did your teammates make the same assumption?"

I glance at Amagi and Hideo, who nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, all three of you made the correct assumption based on the limited time you had. Since one of you left by a different door, I feel it safe to assume he would have told you if you original assumption was wrong?"

Sensei looked at Hideo who nodded again.

"Now for your homework, I want the three of you to make a map of your section of the village. I know that two of you live in the barracks, so you can both work together to create that map. But I will expect a higher level of detail and accuracy since it is two of you working on it. I want you to put all buildings on it, if necessary make note of what type of building it is. For example, Kage tower will be marked on everyone's map, while the barracks, or your house will only be marked on your map. Make sure to mark the places you frequent as well. Just mark them differently on the map, but don't create the key, that will happen next time. Any questions?"

"When is this due?" I ask.

"Three days should be plenty of time."

"Okay."

"Now you three are dismissed for the rest of the day, start working on your maps. You should also take off your disguises before you head out of here for the day. Take one of these scrolls and create your map on it." Sensei handed us each a large scroll, as if it was an afterthought.

I take my scroll and start to walk out of the classroom and walk down to the locker room. Where I grab my normal clothes and walk into the shower area, change and wash the makeup off my face. I return to the locker room and sit, waiting for my teammates.

"So how do you want to do this?" I asked as soon as they emerged from the shower area.

"What do you mean?" Amagi asks.

"Did you want us to work on your map first or mine?" I clarify.

"Ah, well I thought we could start with a rough sketch of the area and that way we don't have to waste time mapping the things we already know," Amagi grinned.

I nod, "Okay so take the next couple hours to make our maps?"

"Sure, can we do it at your house? You have more room." Hideo explained.

"Sure," I pick up my scroll, tuck it into my belt and together we walk over to my house.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. The three of us worked on our maps and we were able to get most of the area around Kage tower done along with the area immediately around my house, my parent's shop and the other shops I go to routinely. It was really strange looking at the places I associate with friends as just little squares on a map, but I want to do well on this assignment. It also turns out that I have traveled through more of the village than Amagi and Hideo. Or at least I have paid more attention to the places.

Matsuri and her aunt came over to dinner, while my teammates just stayed.

"Since we are here already," Hideo reasoned.

I didn't roll my eyes, but just barely.

Mother was in her element with all the people around her table. Mother and Auntie were busy talking about a new dress pattern Mother was working on for the daimyo's wife. Isamu and Hideo were talking about the different properties of fire. Isamu must be learning about the elements in school now. Amagi is singularly focused on the food in front of him. Matsuri and I talked about the upcoming visit from the Hidden Leaf shinobi.

"So he is coming with his team, he is the only chūnin so they are genin," Matsuri said.

"Why are they sending the whole team?"

"Something about diplomatic relations," Matsuri smiled, "Gaara-sensei is having a hard time trying to get the council of elders to agree on where to place the team. Gaara-sensei wants them to have a small apartment where they can come and go as they please, while the council wants to keep them in Kage tower in the guest quarters."

"Why can't they do both? I mean, why not have them in the guest quarters, but ones that are furthest from all the main staircases and hallways. That way they can have some privacy but also still be close enough for the council to not get worried about them doing something bad."

"They are currently arguing about that, I am not sure what they are going to do. The diplomats will be here in less than a week."

"Would it be weird to have them in the barracks?" Amagi asked.

Matsuri thought for a minute, "I don't know. But it would seem to mean that you don't trust them if you throw them into the middle of our shinobi force."

I nod, "Too bad you can't just use the merchant quarters."

Matsuri turned to look at me so quickly I am sure I heard her neck pop, "The what?"

I glance at Mother who is not paying any attention to me, "Near the bazaar there are quarters that visiting merchants use while they are here. There is a reasonable rent on them because the building is owned by the merchant guild."

Matsuri's eyes lit up, "Tsukio, you are a genius!"

"Why is Tsukio a genius?" Mother asked. I glance over and see that she is now very focused on me.

"Tsukio might have figured out how to solve a problem that has been causing Gaara-sensei and the elder council a major headache," Matsuri jumped up from the table and pulled me to stand with her, "Excuse us Sakiko, Tsukio and I need to see Lord Kazekage for a moment." Having finished her sentence, Matsuri drug me out of my house.

Amagi and Hideo followed behind us, "Where are you going?" Hideo asked.

Matsuri let go of my arm and I was able to turn around and face the direction Matsuri was heading with Amagi and Hideo right behind us.

"To go and tell Gaara-sensei about the merchant quarters. That way he can figure out how to appease the elder council who are concerned about security, but also allow the diplomatic team freedom to roam the village."

I sigh, "This could have waited until after I finished my dinner, you know, Matsuri."

Matsuri blushed, "I'm sorry, I just go excited."

I wave away her apology, "No sorry's needed, just let me eat next time."

We jog to Kage tower, I see the light shining from the Kazekage's office, before we walk into the building and up the stairs to the top floor.

"Gaara-sensei!" Matsuri called as soon as we walked into the reception area of the office.

"Come in, Matsuri," a monotone voice called out.

Matsuri walked in, pulling me with her. "I think I found a solution to your housing dilemma."

Lord Kazekage, Lord Kankuro, Lady Temari and Baki-sensei all looked up from something on the Kazekage's desk.

"Tsukio, Hideo, Amagi, what are you doing here?" Baki-sensei said.

Hideo pointed to Matsuri, "She pulled Tsukio away from dinner, so naturally we followed."

Matsuri blushed even redder, "I just got excited about Tsukio's idea."

Lord Kazekage turned to face me, "What is your idea?"

I gulp at being the intense focus of four pairs of eyes, "Lord Kazekage, while we were talking over dinner, Matsuri mentioned that you and the council were having difficulty coming to an agreement on where to put the Konoha diplomat team. I said that it was too bad the team couldn't use the merchant quarters, it would provide privacy for the visitors and it would also provide easy security because it is in the middle of the bazaar."

Lord Kazekage moved over to another table and pointed at the map on top of it, "Show me where these quarters are."

I glanced at Baki-sensei who nodded and walked over to the map. After a quick glance I pointed to a small apartment complex just inside the merchant bazaar area of the village.

The bazaar is where traveling merchants would set up their wares for a short time before moving onto the next town. It was also where the artisans would showcase their pottery, silks and baskets. Basically the bazaar was where you went shopping for things that are not necessities. When I was younger I would go and watch the pottery merchant sit on his chair and set a ball of clay on a wheel and within minutes the ball of clay would become a bowl, vase or some other sort of beautiful creation. He would then set it over on the drying shelf where it sit and dry, once a week he would fire up the kiln and finish the things he made.

Once he let me make a bowl for Mother for her birthday. She uses it still, to keep some small pieces of jewelry, like rings and earrings. I am still proud of that little bowl.

"The merchant's quarters are a small apartment complex that is owned by the merchant guild," I said as I traced the outline of the building. "They come in one bedroom and two bedroom suites, complete with a bathroom and a kitchen area. Most have a view of the bazaar and have windows that open to allow for the evening breeze to cool the rooms down at night."

"Do you happen to know if anyone is currently staying there?" Lord Kankuro asked.

"I do not, but I can easily ask. There is a landlord type person, who just basically keeps tab of the rooms available and the keys, since rent is usually negotiated through the merchant guild beforehand, since most rent a space for their wares and the room price before they even arrive."

"Go now and see if there is anyone staying there and if there is anyone who is supposed to stay there for the next month," Lord Kazekage commanded.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage," I bowed and quickly walked out the door. Amagi and Hideo were right behind me.

"So you know the Lord Kazekage, huh?" Amagi asks.

I shake my head, "Not really. I know Matsuri, who is his student and she has started dragging me to talk to Lord Kazekage more and more lately. I think she is bored or is trying to get Lord Kazekage to take notice of me, or at least take notice of someone who is not just her."

"You think she is trying to hide something?" Hideo asked.

"Maybe?" I say, "She might be interested in dating someone, or something and she is trying to make sure Lord Kazekage is not paying that much attention. I don't know and being a good friend, I don't ask."

The walk to the bazaar is surprisingly fast, but considering that it is dinner time, not too much. I walk into the building I am looking for. This building is not unusual, except for the fact that it doesn't have a sign above the door. Instead there are a series of flags, all brightly colored, and all designed to wave in the breeze.

"What's with the flags?" Amagi asked.

"It is just to be pretty and to ensure no one thinks it is a store," a voice called from the door. "Ah, Tsukio it is good to see you! Long time no see."

I look at the person speaking, "Hello Uncle." He isn't really my uncle, but he likes to be called uncle by all the children in the area. He owns one of the local silk painting stalls, his daughter is very talented, I have a small silk painting hanging in my room.

"What brings you here?" Uncle asked.

"Let us go inside, I have some questions about rent and who may be staying here."

"Of course, is your father expecting some business associates?"

I decide not answer that, "Do you have anyone currently staying here, or planning on anyone staying here for the next month?"

Uncle goes to the large book that contains the projected visitors and all the necessary information, "Hmm, let's see. I have one guest who is scheduled to leave in four days and it looks like we only have one guest who is looking at being here at any point for the rest of the month."

I nod, "When is that other person supposed to show up?"

"Not until the very end of the month."

I nod again, "Very good. Thank you Uncle, I have what I was looking for," I turn to walk away but stop at the doorway, "Oh and Uncle, what is the going rate for the apartments right now?"

I could feel the grin on Uncle's face, "Currently you are looking at six thousand ryo for a single bedroom and eight for the two bedroom."

"Is that per night?"

"Of course, there are discounts for a longer stay. Just how long are you looking for?"

"Thank you for the information, Uncle. You have been a big help." I walk out the door without answering his question and the three of us, jump onto the nearest roof and run back to Kage tower.

Everyone was where we left them when we walked into the Kazekage's office.

"There is currently only one occupant, on the first floor one bedroom apartment, and will only be there until the end of the week. Then the complex will be empty until the end of the month. Current rates for non merchants in good standing with the guild is six thousand ryo a night for a single bedroom and eight thousand for a two bedroom This goes down for booking a week or more and if you are in good standing with the merchant guild," I said, not waiting for anyone to ask what happened.

"How do you get in good standing with the merchant guild?" Kankuro asked.

"Those are the prices even for the Kazekage?" Temari asked, her voice outraged.

I shrug, "This is what you sent me to find out. However, because my father is in good standing with the merchant guild and has had multiple business associates come to stay at the apartment I could get a better deal. That is, if you wanted to pay."

"What do you mean, if we wanted to pay?" Matsuri asked.

"Lord Kazekage is trying to leave a good impression with a group of diplomats. Diplomats that will spend money at the bazaar while they are here. It is in the merchant's best interest for these rooms to be rented. The merchant guild wants to be in the good graces of Lord Kazekage, so it wouldn't be that difficult to get rooms for free or at a significantly reduced rate."

"Who would pay for those rooms?" Baki asked.

"Suna, of course," Lord Kazekage answered. "We would be paying for the rooms regardless of where they stayed. But," Lord Kazekage looked over at me, "the girl is correct in her assessment of Suna wanting to make a good impression."

"If the shinobi go home either talking about the bazaar in Suna, or the goods they found here, more people might come to look at those goods and buy some, or they could be asked to visit Konoha to sell their goods there," Baki said, "This would be good for Suna's economy."

"This is something we should discuss with the merchant guild," Lady Temari said.

"Of course, do you think they will be available tomorrow morning?" Lord Kazekage asked.

"For you, of course they will," Kankuro answered. "I will go and let the merchant guild people know right now." With a salute, Kankuro disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Is there anything else you need of me, Lord Kazekage?" I ask as I bow slightly.

"Not right now, but if I have more questions about the merchant's quarters…" Lord Kazekage's voice trailed off.

"I will be honored and happy to answer any and all questions you may have, Lord Kazekage."

"You may go."

"Tomorrow at the training ground, be ready to run," Baki-sensei said as we walked out the door.

"Yes, Baki-sensei."

After a quiet good night, the boys and I parted ways. Matsuri stayed behind to offer any assistance she could. I walked home, grabbed some cold chicken and went straight to bed.

 **AN: More information about the group coming. Did you catch the name of the person coming in the last chapter?**

 **Comments, theories and questions are always welcome.**


	16. Babysitting and Clean Up

We ran around the village until I couldn't move anymore. I lost track around the fifteenth time around the village. I was the first to fall behind and I was the first to collapse on the ground. Baki-sensei picked me up and carried me to the shaded area next to our normal training ground.

"Drink," Baki held out some water to me and watched until I drank half the bottle. "Stay here, and drink. When you get feeling back in your legs, stretch and do katas one through six, then drink more water."

"Yes, Baki-sensei," I let the wall behind me hold me upright as I watch Baki run to find my teammates.

I lost track of how many times Hideo ran past me, Amagi ran past only a few times before Baki set him down next to me with the same orders as me.

By the time Hideo collapses next to us, I am working my way through the Academy katas. I pass Hideo some water as he lays on the ground, chest heaving as he tried to breath. I go back to my exercises.

After the three of us had recovered and I had gone through the Academy katas three times, Baki-sensei told us that we have the option of spending the rest of the day recovering, or we could do a mission.

I look over at my teammates and they nod, "If there is an easier D-rank, we will take that mission."

"Very good, get cleaned up and I will have your mission or missions ready for you in thirty minutes."

"Yes, Baki-sensei," we chorused as we walked into the Intel building.

A quick wash with a washcloth and some soap, a change of clothes and redoing my braid and I was ready for our mission. I threw a couple ration bars in the direction of Amagi and Hideo, "Eat this, it will give you the nutrients you need to get you through to lunch."

Baki held up a scroll, "This scroll is to babysit a shinobi's children for two days. Your duties will include feeding them, breakfast and dinner, make sure the children get to the Academy on time and put them to bed," Baki held up another scroll, "This is a mission to repair a training ground. The damage isn't too severe, it mostly needs the sand removed and the targets to be replaced and rearranged."

"Are we supposed to choose one?" Amagi asked.

"You can, or you can do both. I haven't officially accepted the missions so there won't be a black mark against you."

I frown thinking hard, "We can do both, depending on the actual time frame of the training grounds repair."

Baki nodded, "The training ground isn't to be given out until tomorrow, so the completion time isn't until tomorrow evening. Which means you will have the rest of the day and all day tomorrow to finish it."

"I say we do both," I say.

"I agree, although I don't know much about babysitting," Hideo said.

I smile, "I know lots about babysitting, so don't worry too much about it. I will be there to help you as much as I can."

"Okay," Baki said holding out the scrolls to us, "I will go and officially accept these missions for you. Get started on the training grounds and meet the client for the babysitting mission after the Academy gets out for the day."

The three of us nod, Hideo takes the scrolls and tucks them into his vest.

"That gives you four hours, the replacement targets will be delivered to you. For now, focus on removing the extra sand from the training ground."

"Yes, Baki-sensei."

Hideo opens the scrolls, reseals the babysitting mission and reads the details of the training grounds mission. "It is the big training ground near the Academy. I say we head straight there, and work for a few hours, stop for a late lunch work for a little longer then go meet our next client."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Amagi said.

I nod in agreement and the three of us jump onto the roof and start to run, on shaky legs to the large training ground next to the Academy.

When we arrive at the training ground, Amagi gives a low whistle, "Geez, there must be a sand user to leave this type of mess."

I had to agree with his assessment. There was about fifteen centimeters of loose sand covering the ground. The targets were mangled or in pieces. It looked like a localized sand storm hit the training ground and left no survivors.

"So how do you want to do this?" I asked.

"Tsukio, do you think you could us your wind jutsu to move the sand?" Hideo asked.

"Maybe," I say, "Where do you want me to move it?"

"I was thinking to the arena, to be honest," Hideo answered sheepishly.

I stare at him, my mouth hanging open, "Please be joking." The arena was on the other side of the village. There was no way I could possibly move the sand that far.

"Well, would it be harder to move it outside the village?" Hideo asked.

"Maybe?" Really both options seems pretty impossible. First of all, I don't even know if I would be able to move some of the sand so that it didn't make more of a mess. Secondly, I didn't know if I would even be able to move it far.

"Is there a sand pit or a sand box somewhere close by that we could put some of the sand into?" Amagi asked.

"I am sure there is, but we can't put that much sand in the sand box," Hideo said.

"First let me see if I can even move the sand," I say.

Hideo nods, "That is a logical first step."

Amagi grinned, "At least it is sand removal and not recreating the ground."

"Why would that be harder?" I asked.

"Easy, this way I don't have to do the heavy lifting."

I turn and smack Amagi in the shoulder, "Not funny!"

Amagi turns a grin at me, "I think it is."

I roll my eyes at him.

"Focus!" Hideo yells from across the training ground.

I nod and move my hands into the correct hand signs, and using my hands I direct the wind into a swirling pattern. I watch as the wind slowly picks up some sand, turning the wind currents visible. Creating a dirt whirlwind.

"Good, now can you direct it to be over the buildings?" Hideo asked.

I focused and the whirlwind lifted off the ground just a few centimeters before it fell apart.

"So I am going to say that is a no," Hideo said. His voice not hinting at any disappointment or frustration at my inability to do this. "Looks like we are going to do this the old fashioned way."

Amagi sighed and walked over to a small building on the end of the Academy grounds. Inside were standard tools that would be used after a sand storm came through Suna. Amagi brought out a wheelbarrow, three shovels and three buckets.

"There are three other wheelbarrows inside," Amagi said as he stopped his wheelbarrow next to me.

"I'll go and get another one, that way we always have one that we are filling," Hideo said.

I grabbed one of the shovels and a bucket and started to fill the bucket with sand. This was not difficult work. All of the children of Suna had to shovel sand at one point or another. Especially with the more frequent sandstorms we have been having. Thankfully the wheelbarrows had a jutsu on them that made them very light, so we could fill them very full before we needed to go out and dump the sand.

"Take the sand over to the sand pit on the other side of the Academy," Baki-sensei called out as he walked up to us.

I look over and smile, "That isn't too far."

"The Academy students need to learn how to run and fight on sand, so the Academy board is trying to figure out how to make that happen."

Baki helps us by moving the wheelbarrows over to the sand pit, so all I have to worry about is filling my bucket with sand and then dumping the contents into the wheelbarrow. The whole process from empty wheelbarrow to filling it, to taking it over to the sand pit, was about fifteen minutes. I look up at the work we still have left, this was going to take forever.

Amagi echoed my thoughts when we stopped for a quick water break.

"It shouldn't take us more than a couple more hours to get most of the sand gone," Hideo said. "What we need to do is have more wheelbarrows moving, right now, there is a small amount of time where both wheelbarrows are not moving, so we just need to make it so there is always a wheelbarrow moving."

I sigh, "How are we supposed to go faster?"

Baki smiled, "You could use jutsu to make it go faster."

"How?" I ask.

"Amagi could use an earth jutsu to make a tunnel and you could use your wind jutsu to push the sand through it. Or Hideo could use fire to turn some of the sand into glass and you could use a combination of earth and wind to move the slab of glass to and from the sand pit."

Amagi and Hideo turned to look at the training grounds.

"I might be able to move the sand up enough for you to create a small layer of glass," Amagi said thoughtfully.

"I could cool the glass down enough for the sand to be put on it and turn the sand into more glass."

"That could work," Hideo said.

Amagi nodded and went through some hand signs and made a layer of dirt harden and he then created five pillars of dirt that held the sand up.

"Too bad we can't just make that move," I say pointing at the structure Amagi just made.

Hideo looked at me, "Why not?"

"Huh?"

"Can you focus on creating a wind vortex that is just under the platform?"

"Maybe?"

"Try it."

I concentrated and used created another whirlwind, focusing on the center of the slab.

Baki smiled, "Very good, now Hideo add a little fire to the wind, warm air is always lighter than normal air and has a lifting quality."

Hideo gave a small push of fire and with wind current I was directing was suddenly moving faster, I quickly slowed the current I was controlling.

"Now Amagi, remove the pillars."

Amagi's hand slammed into the ground and the pillars slowly retracted.

The platform stayed in place.

"Now we need to push the platform"

I continued to focus on the wind currents while Baki and Amagi walked to the other side of the platform and pushed. The platform moved a little, Amagi pushed harder and the platform moved further.

I concentrated on keeping the wind currents in a tight spiral under the platform, focusing on the center of the platform. Hideo continued to put a small amount of fire into the wind currents to keep the current lifting the platform.

I was sweating with the effort to keep the wind currents from getting out of control or to lessen in strength. Thankfully though, we reached the sand pit and I was able to stop the current. I sighed and sat down and took a deep breath.

Amagi did something and the platform holding the sand up disintegrated and the sand dropped into the sand pit with a loud thump.

"Very good, Tsukio, you are getting much better with your wind current manipulation. Amagi, good work keeping the platform strong yet thin. Hideo, nice control of your fire, making sure that it was small enough to provide the lift needed, but not so big that the wind currents became flaming currents. Soon, I think, we will have to work on a new jutsu for you three."

I grin and feel the warmth coursing through my body at Baki-sensei's praise.

"Now get some lunch, pack a bag for an overnight stay and come back in thirty minutes. I will have the targets delivered."

"Yes, Baki-sensei!"

I turned and ran to my house. I grabbed a quick lunch of rice, chicken and some vegetables. I then ran up to my room, grabbed a small backpack and put in my pajamas, a change of clothes. I then pulled out the small waterproof bag I used while traveling with Father and put my toiletries inside. I also grabbed a book from my shelf and added it to the bag. The last thing I did was put my pillow and my favorite blanket into a scroll and put the scroll into my bag. I still had a little bit of time, so I ran over to the store.

"Mother!" I called as soon as I walked in.

"Upstairs," she called back.

I go into the fabric storage room and look at the mess, "Mother?"

"I am just rearranging some of the fabrics, your father is stopping by the silk makers and will be bringing back more silk. Apparently they had a wonderful harvest and say this is their best year ever."

"That's nice. I have an overnight mission, Mother. It is for the next two nights, possibly more if the parents are not back on time."

"What kind of mission?"

"Babysitting, other than that, I have no idea."

Mother nodded, "You have lots of practice in babysitting. This will be a good mission for you."

"Thank you, Mother. I should be able to come back tomorrow during the day to drop off my clothes and pick up some more."

"I will do your laundry for you, if you want."

"Thank you. Is there anything you would like me to do tomorrow?"

"If you have time, come and help my moving this fabric. I'm afraid your father is going to bring too much back and we won't have room."

I smile, this was a familiar discussion. Mother has it every time Father stops by the silk makers. "Of course I will Mother. Is there a specific way you were organizing them?"

"I was just trying to get them separated by color and fabric, but that doesn't seem to be working."

"Why not just organize them by color, we know the different fabrics, it shouldn't be a problem."

Mother nodded, "We can try that."

I navigate my way through the mess on the floor. "I will see you tomorrow, Mother. Give my brothers my love."

"I will."

I open the nearest window and step through, using chakra to keep my feet planted on the wall, I close the window behind me, then jump off to the Academy.

I was the first to arrive. I set my backpack down and moved towards the new targets. I looked around, but couldn't find anything telling me how they were supposed to be arranged. Maybe Baki-sensei had the diagram. I move one of the targets to a more stable position and pull out a single kunai, pulled my arm back and let it fly.

It hits the center.

Walking over I retrieve the kunai, walk back further and with a flick of my wrist, I send the kunai flying.

Thump!

Walking back to pull the kunai, I walked back even further.

Flick.

Thump!

Grab.

Flick.

Thump!

Thump!

I blink, so lost in my throwing that I didn't even notice someone walking up. I look and see Amagi is also throwing a single kunai at my target.

"Did you ever think about adding weapons to your jutsu?"

I shake my head, "Wind currents can be very unpredictable, I am not sure I would be able to direct weapons with any sort of accuracy."

Amagi nodded.

Baki-sensei and Hideo arrived. Hideo had a small backpack on his back, which he set down near my bag, and what I assume is Amagi's.

Baki pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Hideo, "This is the configuration of the targets. After you are done with that, we should go and turn in this mission and then go and meet the next client."

"Yes, Baki-sensei."

Hideo walked around the training ground and quickly marked out were the targets should go. "The arrow shows which way the target should be facing," he said after making the last mark.

I walk over to the pile of targets and grab two, before moving over to the first location. After placing the target down, I made sure to sink the base of the target stand into the ground and the base was covered with dirt.

Placing targets didn't take long so we were able to turn in our mission scroll, get our pay stub and walk over to the small house where we would be babysitting.

Turns out, Amagi and Hideo are useless when it comes to kids. The kids we were hired to babysit were seven and eight and were in different classes at the Academy. Their parents were going on a mission to the border of Suna and the Land of Rivers at the outpost there. Nothing too dangerous, but it took a day to get there and a day to return.

The youngest loved stories, so I spent most of the evening getting dinner ready, while listening to Amagi read different stories.

Bed time was quick and easy, I was given the couch to sleep on, while Amagi and Hideo set up on the floor. After the introductions, Baki-sensei left us on our own. I pulled out my pillow and my blanket and fell asleep, telling myself this was just like the different sleepovers I would have with my friends. Nothing to worry about.

 **AN: Here we are, they are moving forward. I hope you have enjoyed this latest chapter. This one was frustrating and fun to write, sorry for any mistakes, let me know if you find some please. Until next time :)**


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